Psychic Bonds
by Justsimplespeed
Summary: When a strange, young girl is found in a city and soon becomes the target of Giovanni, Ash is soon reunited with an old ally as this female's past is slowly unravelled and their world abruptly thrown into chaos.
1. City Nights

She stopped, breathless, ears strained against the night and soaked through to the skin. In the distance, footsteps hit the pavement with wet slaps and voices shouted indistinctively, echoing in the alleyway. They were looking for her, she knew, and she forced her feet to run again, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through her lungs with every labored breath.

She ran almost blind. The night limited her view with a new moon and the raging storm above sent slicing rain down into the alley as lighting branched against the sky. Without the aid of the flashlights carried by her pursuers, nor the gifted sight of their faithful companions, it was only mere luck that stopped her from running into anything. Including the wall that awaited her at the end of the narrow alley.

Again, she paused, panting heavily as her eyes darted along the wall desperately, finding no plausible means of overcoming this obstacle. All at once she felt the hope leave her as the voices shouted again, no more than a few yards behind her followed by the unmistakable sound of a dog's baying. Was this really it? Had she really escaped for it to have been all for nothing? Were those three days of almost freedom all she was ever going to know?

Inwardly, she shook her head refusing to let such thoughts overcome her, especially now that she was so close to her goal. Still, she wondered if she could adjust to _this_ world, the world outside of what she had known her whole life, outside of what made her feel safe. Could someone like her really make it out here? Could she ever really outrun the ones who had created her, brought her to life then gotten betrayed by their own creation?

Unfortunately the time to find out was now, just as her pursuers rounded the corner to the dead-end. She was trapped and outnumbered.

"Now, now. Don't you think this little game of cat and mouse has gone on long enough?" The first of the group stepped forward while running a hand down his restless partner's head, growling at his heels.

Said mouse offered no reply. It had become a common ritual that developed between the two upon their first encounter. He would forever be the man that haunted her dreams and distorted her reality, the reason she would now forever sleep with one eye open and yet the reason she existed.

"Silent as ever." He shook his head though a hard grin had appeared. "Then again, you were always meant to be seen and not necessarily heard. To think you somehow managed to break free from my lab and make it out into the city still amazes me. You're just like-"

"Your _other _failed creation." The female interjected with tones dripping acid and the man just shook his head, amused.

"Failed? No. Simply...Untamed, something that I plan to fix in due time mind you." The man's dark eyes met her own unusual amber ones through the rain as he took a daring step forward. "You and it were built alongside each other and yet somehow you remained a secret from me until just a few months ago. And what a discovery you are..."

He took another step forward and the female tensed, feeling the cold of the wall behind her set her on edge and her eyes looked over the Grunts standing readily behind him along with the dozen and a half pokémon at their heels. In the narrow space, escape was impossible and she forced to eyes to level with the man before her, realizing he had won.

"I won't lose you again, Amber. I simply _won't_." Seeing the look of pure disgust on the female's face, the man smirked ever so slightly. "You don't like that name?"

The female's gaze hardened. "You _know_ I don't." She shot then looked away and quietly muttered. "..."I'm _not_ her..."

"But you were created in her image, were you not?" It was question he already knew the answer to. "You were made to replace a lost daughter whose resurrected conscience had been lost but whose image was forever plastered to her grieving father's shattered mind. A man who had magnificent knowledge in science, particularly cloning. You look as he imagined his own daughter later in life."

"I'm not her..." The female placed her hands over her ears, shaking her head profusively. "I'm not...I won't..."

"It's true." The man continued. "You were never able to measure up to the original because you were something far more unique. Far more _powerful_." At this word the man's voice filled with ecstasy as a gleam crept into his eyes. "You are the first and only perfect hybrid of the creatures that inhabit our world and us."

The female looked up viciously, eyes flaring. What he said tweaked something inside her and she clenched a fist at her side, causing the Grunts to tense and their pokémon to shift. She ignored them.

"What do you want from me, Giovanni?" she asked, her voice deadly quiet.

Giovanni's smile hardened until it glistened like diamond. "You are the epitome of what Team Rocket stands for. A revolution. A change in the world we have come to know and a shift in powers. You were after all created with the duel purpose of change."

Lightning flashed, highlighting the encounter and the features of those involved. One Grunt flinched and looked up as a loud rumble ran down the sky then, all at once, panic hit his face.

"Boss?" His voice wavered drastically and he tried again. "Boss!"

Obviously uninterested, Giovanni turned around and followed the Grunt's gaze upwards to the top of the closest wall, then promptly froze. As if under a spell, everyone glanced up simultaneously as lightning branched the sky.

Giovanni faltered and took a step back. "It can't be..."


	2. The Next Day

**Turokmaster: Why thank you! I'm trying to write as fast as I can before the idea slips away XD**

**Kassehface: I love cliffhangers :P Ans suspense :p :P**

**Pachysam: I LOVE the movies/ TV specials when they're together cause it always ends up EPIC. That's probally why I like the manga so much cause Mewtwo only trsted Ash (Or "Red") XD**

**TG101: Didn';t it though? o.o It creeped me out just writing it but I was trying my best to keep him in character :D Granted it's been a while since I've seen/ heard him**

**Shadowonground: I have a knack for awkward beginnings XD**

**Tenten628: All becomes clear in this chappie! And the next XD And possibly the next .-.**

**Forsaken Avenger: What? OHAH Not enough for you? :P MEWTWO PAWNS ALL. Quite literally XD This chappie is a tad longer! :D**

**Ashton Nauran: Thanks ;)**

**Blue-Red-Ninja: You're name is very color afflicted XD I have a habit of slow starts and gradually giving more info :)**

Amber jerked awake, utterly panicked for reasons she couldn't fathom, soaked in a cold sweat and panting. Almost immediately, a sharp pain shot through her skull, sending fire to her brain and she closed her eyes in a wince.

"Pi?"

Her eyes shot open to come face-to-face with a curious-eyed pikachu and she jumped despite herself, sitting upright -big mistake- as her hand shot to her head. Looking around in the manner of a trapped animal, she realized she was no longer in the alleyway, in fact no longer outside and in a bed. Glancing back at the yellow mouse perched on her lap she allowed herself to calm slightly when it smiled up at her.

"Pika pi!" It suddenly bolted from her lap and landed squarely on the floor before racing out of the tan-white room and through the door on the opposite side. A few minutes later it returned at the heels of a woman and younger male, neither of whom she recognized.

The woman, pink-haired and dressed in a standard nurse outfit, made her way to the bedside. "Good morning," she greeted, giving Amber a warm smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Where am I?" Amber asked warily, meeting eyes with the young teenager. He grinned back at her as the pikachu ran up his leg and hung over his shoulder, obviously content with its new perch.

"Celadon City," he replied before the nurse did. "You're at the local Pokémon Center." Seeing the female blink his expression changed to a mix of confusion and concern. "Don't you remember?"

Amber opened her mouth, then closed it. As hard as she tried, she realized she _didn't_ remember anything past last night, and even that was blurred. She had been running from Team Rocket's leader then there had been something on the buildings above, that she was sure of, but what had happened after that?

Taking the silence as a sign she didn't, the teen exchanged looks with the nurse who smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. You found her in the niche of time, she isn't hurt too badly and memory loss is quite common with head injuries. It's nothing that time won't cure." The nurse looked over Amber briefly before announcing she was indeed fine and left the room to check on further business.

"Thank you..." Amber said after a short, awkward silence causing the teen to look at her, puzzled. "You found me, correct? Who knows what could have happened to me if you hadn't come along..."

The teen cracked a smile. 'Awe, it was nothing, we couldn't have just left you there after all," he paused for a moment. "I'm Ash by the way. And this is Pikachu." He gestured to his companion.

The female hesitated. "I'm...Amber," she managed somehow, unable to think of a name she favoured more in such a short time. "It's nice to meet you."

"Pika!" Ash's partner raced off his shoulders and hopped onto Amber's lap again, looking up at the female with its big, dark eyes expectantly.

Getting the hint, Amber smiled slightly. "It's nice to meet to meet you too." Satisfied, the pokémon beamed then turned back to Ash while spewing what sounded like a question and even cocking its head during.

"It sounds like Pikachu wants you to come spend the day with us," Ash stated (this was confirmed by a nod from his partner), then quickly added. "Once you're all better, that is."

"I wouldn't want to bother you," Amber said earnestly, though she was sourly tempted to take the offer. He seemed kind enough, and there was no doubt he had a strong bond with his pokémon, but she couldn't, not with Giovanni lurking somewhere. Moreover, she had another mystery to solve. What had that thing on the roof been? And why did it seem so familiar? Rack her brain as she might, she couldn't put her finger on it and it was maddening.

Obviously disappointed with her answer Ash insisted she tag along, explaining how he couldn't leave a person he just rescued in a city they knew nothing about. Amber was just about to assure him she would manage somehow when a scream erupted in the air causing the pair to turn to the door.

Sensing it far more than she saw or heard it, Amber managed to raise her arms to shield her face as the lone window in the room seemingly exploded, sending glass shooting into the room. Luckily, neither Ash nor his partner were close enough to obtain injury and were at her side in an instant, relief came in a sigh as Ash saw she was uninjured.

"What was that?" The teen voiced Amber's thoughts aloud as he cautiously made his way to the window's edge and leaned out just far enough to see the ground below and paled slightly.

Before Amber could figure out just what he had seen the door burst open, hitting the wall with enough force that a wide crack would later be found on the opposite wall, revealing several people that made her stomach flip-flop.

"Target located." One of them, noticeably female, stated into a radio (Amber already had a good - and none-too-surprisingly accurate - guess as to who was on the other side). "Shall we proceed to capture?"

"Who are you and what do you want?" After he said it, Ash realized it couldn't have been a dumber question. He had after all, since the start of his journey as an official trainer, encountered this group more than anyone else in the world to the point were he could almost predict when and where they would show up next. Granted, it was usually a trio he faced but nonetheless they were all a part of Team Rocket. Still, that didn't explain why they were here now.

The air sparked as the teen's partner growled, electricity glowing from its cheeks, ready for battle. Amber let it pass through her mind that her newfound friends might actually be able to defeat the group before them, but for what purpose? She knew better than to think they wouldn't return ten times more powerful next time, not with Giovanni pulling their strings.

A voice, badly cracked by static but still obviously carrying more authority than anyone else in the room, affirmed the female's request and it only took a second for the female to fix Amber with a sneer, one of someone who clearly enjoys their line of work.

"I suppose I don't need to tell you what's about to happen do I, _Amber_?" She asked, coating each word with as much bliss as she dared. Unlike the simpletons who accompanied her she was fully aware of what they were up against and what someone like her could do without so much as breaking a sweat.

Ash turned a shocked, more puzzled, look to Amber, who had finally arisen from the bed. "Wait, you know these guys?"

Seeming to ignore the question from Ash, Amber glowered at the unnamed female. "You're here to take me back, right? If he sent _you _he must be getting a bit frantic, and desperate."

"Seems that way," the female replied casually. "He could hardly stand losing his first experiment, much less someone as, uh, unique as you." She turned to Ash, who had been following the conversation with a rather large amount of confusion. "Tell me Amber, does your little rescuer realize what you are? Then again, I've come to doubt he's that smart considering he still doesn't recognize me."

It wasn't the full truth. From the moment she spoke there had been a sense of familiarity about her that Ash couldn't put his finger on. He did feel like he had met her before, but a long time ago.

Having taken the silence as a sign she was right, the female smirked and withdrew a black flower with a long stem. "I guess I'll just have to refresh your memory then, won't I?" With a subtle flick of her wrist she sent the flower flying into the opposite wall in what should have been an impossible feat but, sure enough, the stem stuck a good inch into the solid wall before erupting with an explosion that shook the room.

Through the bits of plaster and resulting thick clouds of white powder, the female's voice rang up from all around. "I'm called Agent 009." It announced. "But my preferred name is The Black Tulip, one of the most trusted of Giovanni's agents."

There was a short silence during which thought had overcome the young trainer's face until at last it clicked and he found out he might have been better off not knowing.

"Domino?" Ash asked, not entirely believing it. The last time he had seen her hadn't been an experience he wanted to repeat and wouldn't be easily forgotten for anyone involved. Ash blinked, recalling the event and frowned. The truth of the matter was that Domino _shouldn't _remember it, or him for that matter. Certain measures had assured him of that.

Someone grabbed Ash, snapping him out of his thoughts, and the trainer turned a relived sigh to Amber. The panic in her namesake eyes already informed him what she wanted and he nodded, gesturing to his partner to follow as they hurried to the door, now abandoned by the group searching for them in the clouds of plaster. By pure miracle, they were to confront no on as they hurried down the stairs, nearly tripping over them in their haste. Once on ground level, they saw the situation was no better than the one they left upstairs. Nearly every square inch of the room was filled with grunts, terrified trainers and their pokémon all scrambling about in a mixture of confusion and panic.

"What's going on?" For the first time Ash wondered this aloud. From his multiple dealings with Team Rocket, the good and the bad, he knew they were low-down and dirty, often stealing pokémon for their own selfish reasons, but never like this. It was common to run into a grunt or two with a similar goal but never a mob like this unless they wanted something...bad.

Ash shot a quick glance at Amber. While he had never been big on asking people questions unless they wanted to, he knew what was happening here had to have something to do with her. Why _had_ she been in that alleyway, drenched and injured? How did Domino know who she was and why was Team Rocket after her? All at once questions began to flood the trainer's mind.

Exactly _whom_ had he saved?

"This is all my fault..." As if she had read Ash's mind, Amber spoke softly and turned remorseful eyes to him. "It's...It's because I'm not who you think I am..."

Ash struggled to keep his facade and grinned half-heartedly. "Don't' worry about it, we'll find a way out of this I promise."

Seemingly unmoved, Amber closed her eyes and turned away. "I'll never find a way out," she said so softly Ash couldn't make out clear words and moved closer to the female. Before he could ask her to repeat what she said, a sudden chill ran down his spine, shocking him to silence.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu ran to the trainer's heels, pulling at his pant leg and pointing ahead. Ash looked and felt his heart skip a beat. He had almost forgotten about the grunts that surrounded him, now focused directly on them. What more, he could hear rapid footsteps heading their way from behind. They were cornered.

"Amber." The trainer tried to snap the female out of her thoughts, an attempt all in vain, and turned back to the female desperately. "Amber, we need to-"

Ash cut off abruptly as his blood ran cold. A light, no, an _aura_ had appeared around Amber. An outline of whitish-green whose cold Ash could feel all around him and, based on the sudden stillness of the room, everyone else did too. From the base of the stairs, Domino gasped.

"I-it's really true..." she breathed. "He _really_ did it..."

"What are you talking about?" Ash demanded, trying to keep his voice steady. "What's wrong with Amber?"

Domino laughed, a sound full of pure delight yet Ash sensed a sliver of fear as well. "_Wrong_? Nothing's wrong with her it's just who she is, you little idiot. _What_ she is." Seeing clear confusion overcome Ash, Domino's smile hardened to a glistening diamond. "Why do you think our leader convents her so badly?" No response. "She's _unique_. A miracle of what science, money and greed can really do as a team. An extraordinary experiment who doesn't know her place. Neither a human nor a pokémon, but a _hybrid_."

Ash blinked. "A...Hybrid...?" His voice sounded small even in his own ears, his mind looping Domino's claim. Impossible. That was surely the only word to describe this, right? It was a lie, had to be a lie. He had traveled the world and several regions, seen everything and done half of that. He saw marvels, things people never got to seen in their lifetime and still, he couldn't believe _this_.

Sensing the trainer's disbelief, Amber spoke up softly. "It's true. I wasn't born as much as I was created for a purpose I refuse to fill, one I managed to escape from but almost had to go back to last night."

"But don't worry, she'll be returning home shortly." Domino smirked as she withdrew another tulip and sweetened her voice. "Giovanni's missed his pet."

Amber set cold eyes on her as the aura flared and whipping around her wildly. Domino hesitated before flicking the tulip through the air with amazing accuracy towards Amber. It never made it to its target, however as the aura surrounding the female acted as if it were a shield. Halting the flower in its path, the aura didn't so much as falter when it exploded. When the smoke cleared, Amber still stood within the aura, but noticeably inches off the ground her eyes glowing a color matching the energy around her.

"Amber..." Ash's mind raced as he stared at the scene before him. A strong wave of emotions washed through the teen. Fear that he would soon be a part of something he'd regret, anger at Giovanni for making another creature so angry at others. _She's just like_-

As to what happened next, Ash never really knew. What he was sure of was that a light, blindingly white, had engulfed the room in a mere matter of seconds, expanding from Amber's position. It had been deadly silent and he had just been about to ask what was going on before realizing the air had left as quickly as the light had come. The world started to go white and, try as he did, he couldn't gather a breath and he felt dizziness loom over him. After what felt like years, the light faded and his world went black.

**And so, after many months, I finally post chapter 2. Man, I'm a bum with so many ideas and so little motivation XD Please read, then review. Or the otherway around, don't matter to me ;)**


	3. Reunions, Old and New

**Nauran: Is the short a bad thing? o.o I would make them longer but I run out of ideas XD Glad I have your interest!**

**pachysam: Ash just meets everyone is some way, I just had to make it believable ;) Guess what? You don;t have to wait no more :D**

**Turokmaster: WAIT NO MORE! Hope you get even more addicted :D**

**Pokefan: Awe thanks :D I try ;)**

**Forsaken Avenger: Mewtwo drama is the only poke drama I will handle XD I don't do the suspense thing on purpose ._.**

**Shadowonground: Yes, a hybrid :D I like mixing things around :D**

**GoatinaMouse: I wish they were paired up more in the show D:**

**Tenten628: Mewtwo was hard to write D: D: D: He's too serious and conflicted XD**

**TG101: Thanks :D Domino is that crazy blonde lady from Mewtwo Returns. She's little Miss Tulip XD**

**uprriding muse: I know, I'm lacking in the info area XD But there's more in this chapter :D**

**Lol Master II: Everyone's so excited for Mewtwo :D I feel the love for my fav. pokemon :'D Um...Not really...It's just after the mewtwo specials really ._.**

**CookiesTgwed: I'm not to big on OC so that means a lot to me :D **

**Jumper101: HERE'S MORE! :D**

When Ash awoke he found himself no longer in the Pokémon center, in fact no longer indoors. He lay in a forest, amidst the trees and grass covered with golden rays and morning dew. Off in the distance he could hear a bird sing, its song echoing through the forest, bouncing off trunks and shrubs.

With more difficulty than he would have liked the trainer sat up and felt his head spin. Closing his eyes, he tried to keep himself from passing out and only opened them again when the ground beneath him came to a stop. Wiping what dew he could from his hat and hair, Ash looked around and found he was alone with the sounds of early morning. He frowned, recalling the events of yesterday, and shivered. Despite the sun streaming through the leaves, autumn's bitter chill still crawled over his skin...But was it just the weather?

"Pika pi!" Almost at once Ash felt relief wash over the chill as his partner's yellow form crashed through the underbrush and to his side, looking no more confused or better off then Ash felt. What had happened to them?

The answer came as quickly as the question had. All at once memories from yesterday flooded the trainer's head and he grimaced. Amber...She had done this, whatever this was, hadn't she? That light, the energy he felt, had all been her, right? The trainer's head reeled with questions, old and new. Who, or rather what, was that seeming normal girl he had rescued? Why had Team Rocket been so set on capturing her? What had Domino meant by her being a 'hybrid? Surely not what he thought...?

Ash shook his head, trying to clear jumbled thoughts - big mistake- as he felt lightheadedness wash over him again. How? How could Amber _do_ that? Was she an _experiment _created by Team Rocket? If so, was she created to do things like yesterday? No matter what question ran through his mind Ash could only think of how much Amber reminded him of the only other one of Team Rocket's creations with that much power (he would even bet on more) and just what that power could do.

Had Giovanni not learned from his experience with Mewtwo how _fragile _lives became around his 'experiments'?

Ash didn't want to believe it, but if Amber did have as much power as the trainer had witnessed...He'd rather not think about it. Why did Giovanni have to make so many suffer with his own selfish desire for power? Ash didn't know, or understand, but if Amber had been created to finish Giovanni's goal, that had been started by Mewtwo, Ash knew he _had _to stop him.

But how?

He didn't even know where _he_ was let alone Giovanni or Amber and he knew finding them would depend on luck alone, and _that_ was already turning belly-up. Was there really nothing he could do? No one he could-

Ash looked up, puzzled. Had he just heard a voice? The trainer looked at his partner, who stared back at him blankly, obvious confused, and dismissed it. It had to be the wind. He was in the middle of nowhere after all. Slowly, he lifted himself to his feet, using a nearby tree trunk to right himself until his head leveled. Once he was sure he could, he pulled away from the tree and gestured for his partner to follow as he made his way, pain-sakingly slow, out of the small clearing and into the underbrush. He didn't have a way of knowing where he was going, or if it was the right way or not, but years of experienced travel told him it was better than waiting around to be found (and if the look of the forest alone was anything to go by, the latter wasn't bound to happen anytime soon). As he made his way through the thick, damp, plants a sense of familiarity hit the trainer, like he'd been here before and he just about had it figured when he stopped abruptly and looked around.

Was he going crazy?

"Who's there?" Ash asked, and found his voice cracked through the forest like splitting wood. There was no answer and the trainer felt a ting of paranoia. It didn't help he was hearing voices, but the fact it sounded so familiar put him further on edge. He continued to walk, keeping an open ear for the fable voice and trying to pinpoint the voice's owner and by the next time he heard it he remembered something he had been told not to long ago by...a friend.

_If you should ever hear my voice, know it is my spirit, calling across space and time, to yours._

Ash blinked. Was it possible? If it _was_ who he believed it was, there was no longer a doubt in his mind that somehow, someway Amber was about to be the centre of something bad, and big at that. Something he needed to stop before people started to suffer. How?

He believed he just found a way.

He pressed further into the forest, convinced once he was clear of it his seeming case of schizophrenia would be answered, and soon became desperate for a path or clearing. Double-checking to see if his partner was keeping up, Ash quickened pace until he managed to push his way onto a narrow path, pounded into the dirt by foot prints. Out of the corner of his eye, on one side of the path, Ash saw a faded gray amongst the greens and browns of the plants. Moving the clustered vines and leafs that covered it he saw it was a sign, worn by weather and faded to the point where the trainer could only make out a single word.

Viridian.

"Viridian _Forest_," Ash finished and couldn't help but grin. "No matter this place felt so familiar." As he realized he was closer to civilization than he thought, a frown took over the trainer's face as a race of thoughts hit him. Amber sent him here...Was Domino really telling the truth? Could Giovanni really have made a hybrid?

_His need for power has now become a threat to pokémon and mankind alike..._

This time Ash didn't bother to look around when the wind carried that nameless voice his way. He _knew_ who it was, knew that something big, beyond his control, was about to unfold and that he was about to jump right in the middle of it. The trainer smirked. Well, there was no point in trying to change destiny, right?

"What are we going to do?" He asked aloud, though he knew there was no need. After all, Mewtwo _was_ psychic. Pikachu's black-tipped ears perked up, puzzled, as Ash continued. "If he gets ahold of Amber, who knows how many more like her he could make?" Just the thought of that sickened him. All that power in the hands of a man like Giovanni could only lead to chaos.

_She is safe for now._ These five words relieved Ash to the point he could have collapsed. Still, that was only _one_ problem out of the way.

"Is she with you?" Ask already knew the answer but couldn't help but to ask and to hear a real response.

_Yes, but her presence seems to be having an unusual effect on my own powers and I believe our conversation will have to be kept short._ For the first time Ash noticed the peculiar tone in Mewtwo's voice, something the trainer couldn't put his finger on, and the fact that it sounded as though they were communicating miles underwater assured him Mewtwo's claim was true. _How Giovanni remembers the events at Mt. Quena puzzles me, but we cannot ignore the fact that if he remembers those events, he remembers me and will once again do what he can to make me his pawn. I will not allow this, but I cannot do it alone._

Ash just smirked. "You didn't think I'd refuse did you? Amber's my friend and I'm not just going to sit back while someone like Giovanni uses her."

_Such is to be expected from you. _Despite the fact they were fading fast, judging simply from his tones Ash could tell Mewtwo was gratified at the trainer's response. _Tell me, how soon can you arrive within Cerulean City?_

"By nightfall...Maybe..." The trainer looked at the green maze that awaited him and recollections of his first experiences in this forest resurfaced. The first time around hadn't been easy (in his defense the times after had been slightly simpler) but even he knew that over time new paths, dead-ends and hazards made their way into the forest. "Why'd you need to know?"

_I will meet you there, in a cave on the west-most side of the city...Make sure you are seen by no one..._

Amber's eyes flew open.

She meant to call out, yet she couldn't hear her own voice. There was only silence, as still and deep as a grave, and the frantic beating of her heartbeat as she tried to break free. But _free from what? _She thought groggily, _I can't move, I can't see, something's holding me down..._

She tried to calm herself down, tried to make sense of things and slowly...hazily...her surroundings began shifting into focus. Amber soon realized she was lying on her back, and that the thing holding her down was nothing more than a blanket. A blanket should have been easy enough to push back, except she didn't have the strength to kick it off (she was barely aware of the fact she had no longer had on socks or shoes). Beneath her the ground was cold and damp and she could hear rain falling someways away accompanied by the low murmur of thunder.

_Where am I?_

Moaning softly, Amber struggled to sit up, totally unprepared for the wave of dizziness that pulled her down again. Clutching her head with both hands, she noticed for the first time the unusual markings on one of her hands. No...Not markings, she realized with a sickened lurch of her stomach, it looked like her hand was..._wilted_. Like a plant deprived of water. What was going on?

A spray of stars burst in her brain. It blurred behind her eyes, and memories began struggling to the surface of her mind, clawing their way through her growing panic. The young trainer and his pokémon who had saved her after that night in the alley, the night in question...They were hazy but she remembered them well enough. Trembling, she eased the blanket down from her shoulders, her skin felt raw against the roughness of the fabric, raw and chilled and unusually sensitive. Clenching her teeth against another wave of dizziness, Amber forced herself to her knees to better see her surroundings.

She was in a cave. Small and damp with water stained walls and a tall ceiling. About fifteen feet to her left, the ceiling vanished completely into the pitch-blackness of a tunnel while, the same distance to her right, stood the mouth of the cave.

More importantly, there stood a creature.

It was cloaked in a brown cloth and said nothing to her, it didn't even acknowledge her presence and it wasn't for a few more seconds that Amber realized its back was towards her. Was it a part of Team Rocket? The thought killed her. Could she have been captured so easily?

Inwardly, she shook her head. There was no way. This thing (Amber only now thought it could be some sort of pokémon), hadn't even made a move at her all the time she had been unconscious, hadn't tried to bind her or prevent her from escaping in anyway. True, she was weak but she had never known the Rockets to be careless, especially those aware of her importance to Giovanni.

Clutching the blanket, Amber massaged her hand, shuttering at the ruggedness of it. It didn't hurt but feeling of her other hand on it assured her it was still usable if worst came to worst. She looked at the creature before her again, and felt her body go rigid. _It can't be..._She thought, her heart pumping out of control.

It was madness, she knew. Sheer madness to think that this creature struck her as...familiar, of all things. It had to be the dark or her fatigue that brought it up, _but if that's the case why can't I push it back down?_ That night in the alley, she had been chased, hadn't she? _Yes, chased and cornered_ she remembered. She had run into a dead end, been surrounded by Giovanni and his men...then there had been something, something nearby on one of the rooftops. A figure. One that struck a strong sense of fear, and convent, in Giovanni.

The figure, was it the creature? Amber looked at it and realized it couldn't possibly be anything else. She looked away, suddenly more afraid then when she had woke up. Hadn't she ended up in the hospital after their first meeting after all? Still, she didn't remember what happened after, only that there had been a blue light. But that was all...

She wasn't in any danger now, that was a fact. Already there had been a handful of moments where this creature could have done something to her, but wasn't she still alive? Even if she was completely lost and vulnerable, wasn't she safe?

In truth, Mewtwo had absolutely no intention of harming her. Simply being around her had already arose a dozen questions of its own, rising a storm of dormant anger with them. Frustration not towards Amber (as Ash had called her), but at Giovanni and those who had created it. How could he have gone _this_ far? _Why_ _would they go this far_, was a better question. _Am I not enough...?_

Somehow he knew it was true. Even in its first hours of conscience, Mewtwo had known he wasn't the only thing being created in that lab. Known because he could sense them, knew because he had _met_ them in some unknown reality. Other attempts at pokémon cloning, attempts that would ultimately fade into failure.

There had been a human girl among them, a young girl. She had introduced Mewtwo and the others to a world beyond what they knew in their unconsciousness animation, one like the one outside the labs only..._calmer_. It was as if nothing bad could happen there, it was like a paradise only they were aware of. They each would have gladly stayed there for the rest of their existence and, in the case of all of them but one, that's exactly what happened.

'Life is wonderful.'

_But why...?_

It had been the one question that to this day Mewtwo still couldn't answer but something the young girl had fully believed in despite her situation. But, even that, had failed to save her...Hadn't it?

_Yes, it had, _Mewtwo closed its eyes, trying to stop obstinate thoughts. _It failed to save AmberTwo, yet her image remains in this cave...__Only __her image..._

"I'm not her..." Even to her, Amber's voice was small and barely reached the end of the cave as she drew her legs close to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. She had just read Mewtwo's mind, she knew, but she didn't bother to panic. After all, Giovanni seemed to have a special fondness for the powers of a psychic pokémon, ones he made sure to incorporate into each of his experiments.

"_You are simply the physical resemblance to her",_ this time Mewtwo physically turned to Amber. Her eyes met its in silence. She couldn't tell if Mewtwo was angry or not but Amber felt a sudden chill run down her spine as she stared into its dark eyes, looking at her without readable emotion but she knew what it was looking for...Or rather, looking at.

Amber had once seen a photograph of the little girl she had been made to replace, the whole reason why she had been created in the first place. Mewtwo's claim was true; she _was_ just the mirrored image of a departed daughter. But an almost _perfect _image. Everything from her azure hair to her pale skin was like looking at the real thing, the only thing that didn't resemble the original was her eyes. A sharp, dark amber.

Light lashed out. The cave filled briefly with a brilliant white light before disappearing as quickly as it had come, leaving only the continuing sounds of the storm outside. Amber flinched at the sound despite herself and tightened her grip on the blanket, trying to ignore her wrinkled hand to the best of her ability. She felt better than she had when she first woke up, still weak but at least now she could get to her feet without dizziness washing over her. Slowly, she made her way to the mouth of the cave. It was cramped in the back and she felt like she would suffocate without seeing the outside that lay beyond the cave.

Even through the slanting rain and wind, she knew it was already nighttime. In the distance, she could see the dim lights of a city on the edge of a forest. The cave wasn't as far from civilization as she dared to believe, that alone was a relief. At least now she knew leaving the cave wasn't going to thrust her into attempt to survive through harsh terrain.

Amber sat at the mouth of the cave, her back to Mewtwo as she barely allowed her feet to extend outside to feel the ice-cold rain hit them. She didn't know why, but it made her feel better, calmer.

"I never should have left," she whispered, her eyes dull.

"_Why did you flee?"_

Mewtwo's question caught Amber off-guard and she was silent for a minute before replying, matter-of-factly, "The same reason you did, I guess. No one should have to live like that...experiment or not..." She looked back to Mewtwo, who stared at her for a second before nodding in agreement.

_"Neither pokémon nor humans deserve to solely serve one person's goal as their reason for being, I have come doubt Giovanni will ever realize this..."_

"Even if he did, he'd never stop searching for me," Amber had come to terms with this long ago. Recollecting on the events at the hospital just assured her of this fact, everything Giovanni's agent had said echoed in her mind and she felt tears well up in her eyes. "I'm not a pokémon _or_ a human and that makes me irreplaceable to him and the world."

"_It is true. You are the brainchild of a great scientist, one who had superb knowledge of pokémon physiology yet whose heart had been shattered by the lost of his only daughter. He wanted to insure his daughter's image would survive even if her subconscious was lost, an image that would not be tainted nor easily eliminated. The end result being an unbalanced power within you that even your own body cannot handle." _To prove this point, Mewtwo gestured to the female's hand.

Amber looked at it through blurred vision. She didn't even remember letting the tears spill over. "Like a precious flower…" her voice cracked badly but she didn't bother to repeat herself. Her early suspicion had been right. She _was _wilting.

_Just what am I?_

**And so, after the longest wait in history, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it :D Sorry for the lack of info but all will be revealled next chapter :D Whenever I get to posting it cause I have no steady internet connection right now D: R&R!**


	4. The Hybrid Hunt

**pachysam: Thanks for the review. I try hard to write the characters believable and I hope you think I did well with Mewtwo :)**

**dumdumdoo: Thank you. I did ;)**

**V: I have a thing with drama, apparently XD I updated :)**

**The Pizza Guy With a Hat: I love Ash and Mewtwo's partnership, I envy it XD And thank you so much! I try hard to make Amber interesting :)**

**foreverinvisable: I'm glad you think so :D**

**RXR: I love Mewtwo too! That's why I'm writing this mostly XD**

**Nauran: Thankk you :D And I have done, and I love yours :]**

**Peridot Dreams: I'm so very glad you think so :D I try hard ad I hope none of the characters stray to any majour OOC-ness XD**_  
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_"...Image...born, my dau...ghter..."_

A voice, distant and faded but faintly familiar reached Amber in the pitch black. There was no light, no one and nothing around but her in a space of emptiness, of nothingness. It was cold here, and she felt a growing pain in her chest, like something was gripping her heart in an icy vice. With every breath she took she found it was like forcing air through a narrow tube, her head swam dizzily.

_Where am I? _She meant to speak the words but nothing came out, her mouth seemed to rebel against her, leaving the pitch black just as quiet as she had come to realize it.

"_The greatest...power...world..._," the voice rose up again, sounding hysterical, frantic and echoing throughout the black. "_It won't fail...it won't!"_

Where was the voice coming from? It was as though she were listening to a single side of a conversation and she could only guess what the other person was saying. But why did the voice she hear sound so familiar? More importantly, why did it send a cold shiver down her spine?

There was a sudden, unmistakable sound of an explosion. It wasn't close but Amber still felt the ground beneath her (if there even was one) vibrate with the force. Fearing losing her balance would send her falling further in the black, Amber's arms scrambled for something -anything - to hold on to and froze when her hand brushed up against something hard and cold.

Whirling, she came face to face with a pale face, white to the point that Amber even wondered if it was alive. Suspended in a greenish liquid within a capsule-tube was a young girl. Amber blinked, half hoping her eyes were playing tricks on her but somehow knew they weren't. She was dreaming she realized, and like her other dreams memories that were half hers and half the other Amber's managed to twist themselves into her subconscious. And this time had her standing on eyelevel with her counterpart, a first.

From within the tube, AmberTwo's dark eyes passed over Amber, who had frozen from both shock and curiosity, before meeting her amber eyes. "Amber..." AmberTwo's mouth didn't move but her voice filled the darkness like the one before only with a softened, calmer tone that was further enhanced by the small smile that appeared on the girl's face. Amber didn't answer, solely because she couldn't. While the air around her had become lighter, she still felt lightheaded, unable to speak and even harder to focus but AmberTwo took no notice. "I'm so sorry..." the girl continued in the same wavering tones of one who feels an emmense guilt. "I never meant for this to happen to you. I didn't think our father would go so far..."

Amber flinched inwardly at the word 'our'. She had never found the man that created her to be anything more than just that, her _creatour_. The only thing she felt towards him was both an intense anger and sympathy. He was the one who made her _this_, a hybrid, an outsider among humans and pokémon. Through his own grief of losing his daughter he had made some crude scientific cross of a plant and pokémon given the form of a human that Amber was forced to be, forced to live as and forced to come to terms with her strange powers on her own.

_What am I?_ It was the only question on Amber's mind as her eyes drifted to her hand, even in this dream the blemished design of a wilting plant remained glued to her skin.

"You are precious," AmberTwo replied with a twinkle in her eyes that seemed far out of place in the current setting. "You are a unique being, Amber. A special flower and, as long as there is light and water, you cannot die..."

For the first time, Amber heard the particular note in her counterpart's voice and wondered how she had missed it before. It was _envy_. Envy for what?_ Life?_ This life? All at once questions spun around, filled the hybrid's head so fast that she almost didn't notice the image of her counterpart slowly fading to the black once again.

AmberTwo's voice, too, began to fade fast but her voice still reached the hybrid. "Life is wonderful...some people just can't see it..."

And then there was nothing.

"Pika!"

Amber woke with a start and half a second later found a rather familiar and enthusiastic pikachu snuggling against her chest by way of greeting. Blinking to dispel both the sleepiness and remaining images of what she had just witnessed in her dream, Amber found herself still at the mouth of the cave she had awoken in just a few hours ago, though she was now considerably wetter having fallen asleep in a position that hadn't completely protected her from the rainfall. Looking down at the pokémon on her lap, the hybrid felt a bittersweetness wash over her knowing that this pokémon would soon be followed by...

"Amber!" Ash's voice cut the female's thoughts off short and she turned just in time to see the trainer appear on the other side of the cave's entrance, soaked to the skin. His hair partly covered his eyes but the relief in them was obvious as he stepped into the cave while taking his hat off and attempted to dry himself of by shaking off what water he could. When he finished, he replaced his hat and grinned toothily as he caught sight of Mewtwo. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"_Yes, it has._" Mewtwo nodded slightly. "_But_, i_t is unfortunate to have to met under such circumstances."_

"Well, we never really seem to meet when something's _not_ wrong," Ash said somewhat taken aback by his own honesty but was glad to see the smallest of smiles on the psychic pokémon's face. "Besides, we agreed that something needs to be done and neither of us can do it alone, plus we made a good team in the Johto region. I know we can do this if we try hard enough."

"But you've already done enough," Amber cut in turning to face the trainer, who looked so shocked at her statement she felt the need to glance down. "This is my problem, you don't need to help me anymore. You could get hurt..." She told him lightly, recollecting on the events that unfolded in the Pokémon Center and wondering briefly what had happened to Domino.

Ash shook his head. "I can't just let a friend down like that and I'm ready to stop Giovanni once and for all." He explained in tones that left little room for argument. Amber looked up and saw nothing but open determination in the trainer's eyes and immediately felt embarrassed for asking him to step down. "Besides," he continued in noticeably lighter tones. "Everyone deserves to be able live a normal life, no matter who or what they maybe," his gaze shifted to Mewtwo ever-so-slyly but, seeing Amber still look uncertain he added softly, "I'm not going to let you get hurt anymore Amber...I'll have you smiling at the end of this. I promise."

"I..." Amber began but stopped. In truth, she was more than just confused by the trainer's actions, she had never met someone who would put their own life at risk to help someone they barely knew, someone who could very well be their undoing. She couldn't for the life of her understand what made Ash as determined as he was to the point where he would purposely go looking for someone as power-hungry as Giovanni of his own will. As much as Amber was ashamed to admit it to herself she was_ afraid_ of Giovanni and a part of her wondered why she lacked the courage of the trainer standing before her, a trainer that had faced off against her worst nightmare more times than she. A trainer who already had his freedom...

Taking Amber's silence as modesty, Ash's face turned puzzled. "So what do we do?" He asked, seeing it as the most basic question to start with to construct a plan. " Giovanni has his sights set on Amber and we can bet he'll do whatever he can to get her back, and when he finds her...He'll find _you_..." Ash looked at Mewtwo as the realization hit him that Amber wasn't the only one at risk anymore. If Giovanni did managed to get his hands on both of them...Ash didn't dare think of the likely consequences. "How does he remember you anyway?" He asked to steer his thoughts else where.

_"The reason is unclear,_" Mewtwo replied and, just from its tones, Ash could tell the question had been running through Mewtwo's mind for a while. "_Only Giovanni's immediate memories had been erased in Mount Quena. It is possible he could have seen or found something that made those memories resurface._"

Amber didn't have to look at Mewtwo to know the pokémon's gaze was fixed on her, the silence that filled the cave assured her of it. It was only when Ash placed a careful hand on her shoulder that the silence was broken.

"Do you remember anything about...where you came from?" It was obvious the trainer was doing his best not to upset her anymore than he could help and making her think about the place she had only just escaped from was pushing it, he knew, but answers were needed to advance.

This Amber knew. Pushing back the images of her dream that had forced themselves back to her mind at the question, Amber shook her head. "I only remember it feeling like...like an island. Somewhere out in the ocean..."

"New Island?" Ash asked with no real hope.

"_It is impossible. New Island no longer stands in Giovanni's hold and all scientific research done there was destroyed upon my initial release and departure." _Mewtwo explained.

Ash frowned. "But you already know where it is, Giovanni could think you'd go back there and that way he could easily capture you." It sounded lame even in his ears, but Ash saw their options for the location of Giovanni's hideout quickly diminishing and didn't like it.

"He never lies in wait," Amber stated sourly, further diminishing the trainer's hope. "Giovanni always plays the cat to prey."

Ash opened his mouth to reply but was cut short by a delicate meow from the cave's opening, turning the trainer saw an all-too-familiar persian sitting within plain view of the group, licking its paw and unaware of the sudden sinking feeling it caused to wash over Ash. Or the dread that seized Amber's heart.

"_Just as I thought..._" It was unclear whether Mewtwo felt anything similar to the other two, but something in its tones told them it didn't much like the events that were about to unfold.

"How did he find us already?" Ash asked, breathing the question in fear of being overheard by a Grunt or Giovanni himself, though a part of him said it made no difference now. _Did he follow me? _The trainer thought, and clenched a fist at his side. Could he have been so careless?

"_He was already here," _Mewtwo assured him, causing the trainer to pull a confused look. While there were many things about Mewtwo Ash still didn't get, even after both of their encounters, he had never know the psychic to simply stand by when danger was close by, let alone wait until the last minute to announce it. Seeing the trainer confused at its claim, Mewtwo elaborated. "_Giovanni arrived shortly before you. However, because of the conflicting effects on my powers I could not be certain."_

"I'm sorry," Amber apologized quietly but Ash just smiled at her, a gesture seemingly misplaced in their current predicament.

"Don't worry," he assured. "We'll find a way out of this, but first we need to get out of here." Despite his expression, it was obvious the trainer didn't have an idea as to how they were going to manage getting out of the cave in the storm safely _and_ manage to avoid Giovanni and his Grunts.

As luck would have it, getting out of the cave and safely on the ground was just barely bordering on what remained of Mewtwo's diminished powers. However, once they touched down, the seriousness of their situation came to light as they saw a multitude of shadowed figures shifting between the trees. They were no doubt Grunts with Giovanni hiding somewhere in the middle, making Amber wonder if there hadn't been a better way to do this as they began to run through the forest (or in Mewtwo's case flying) while avoiding the silhouettes of their enemies as quietly as they could. A part of the female wanted so badly to give up, if only to just end this goosechase before someone innocent got hurt, but another part of her felt angry at herself for not being as valiant as Ash. How was it this boy who had been a stranger until a few days ago cared more about her future than she did? Had she really become so helpless?

_No...That's not it, _she thought warily. _He just doesn't know what it's like. _How could he, after all? She doubted that even Mewtwo had told the trainer what it had been like to be created just to serve the wants of another. To not know of life beyond the lab where you were created, or to know of a world without test tubes and methods. It was enough to drive anyone, or anything mad, and while Amber had been thankful for her chance at escape she couldn't help but wonder if it had really been worth it. Life in Giovanni's hold might not have been pleasant to the point of insanity, but at least there she had _answers_. Answers to the questions flooding her head, questions about her past and powers, about her counterpart and so much more.

Could Ask really keep his promise? It was the only question that Giovanni couldn't answer. Likewise, it was the only one she wanted to find out on her own.

"Where are we going to go?" Amber called through the wind, rain and the occasional rumble of thunder from the sky but her voice still hardly managed to reach the others.

"The city," Ash replied much in the same way from in front of the female. "We can't do much alone but I know someone who can help us. I just hope we make it..." He added softly, below anyone's hearing. It was a half-mile to the city and while there was no doubt in his mind that he and Mewtwo could make it without any problems there had been something about the way Amber was earlier that told him they might be the only ones. _Maybe..._ He thought, glancing back at the female. _Weird...She seemed exhausted earlier...But now she seems fine..._Had he just imagined that?

Little did he know, he hadn't. Amber herself had noticed that she suddenly seemed to be wide awake and alert compared to when she had first woken up. Looking at her hand, she also noticed that the withering had almost completely disappeared.

Before Amber could even wonder what had caused it to suddenly disappear, out of the corner of her eye she saw something small and black slice through the forest and stick neatly in the ground just feet in front of Ash. Even through the storm Amber could make out the slender form of a black tulip. None of them could have avoided the shock of red electricity that shot from the flower a second later, knocking the four of them back with a force that jolted them to the core as two figures stepped out of the darkness.

"I thought you would try to head for the city but I didn't think you'd take the most direct route there." Giovanni said in solid tones, while next to him Domino smirked boldly. Giovanni's eyes shifted in the dark until he met gazes with Mewtwo and something sinister flickered behind his dark eyes. "Ah, it's been a while, hasn't it? Always a pleasure to see old friends again."

_"I am no friend of yours..."_ Mewtwo replied, having already recovered from the attack that the others were slowly recovering from themselves.

"Let's not dwell on the past now, shall we?" Giovanni spread his hands to his side smoothly. "After all, we have plenty of time in the future to recollect."

"Don't think you're going to just take them without a fight," Ash grated, managing to get unsteadily to his feet.

Giovanni glanced at him with little interest but there had been a slight look, practically non-existent unless you were looking hard, of anger when he caught sight of the trainer. "These matters do not concern children," he said testily. "009 take care of these pests."

"Gladly." Domino sneered as she took another step forward, another tulip in hand. Something in her eyes sent a chill down Ash's back and the trainer noticed Mewtwo tense ever-so-slightly. He had encountered plenty of Giovanni's grunts and henchmen on his travels but none of whom had the same sinister nature of Giovanni himself, like Domino did. The thought that Domino had failed once to bring Amber to Giovanni and probably wasn't going to left it happen again flashed through the trainer's head and he opened his mouth to warn the others but stopped as he noticed a familiar green light engulf Domino.

Domino stopped, more by force than shock, her body suddenly heavy and non-responsive. Realizing what had happened the agent's eyes shot over to where Amber was on her knees, the same light from the day at the Pokémon Center around her like a ghostly haze and her eyes already a glassy green.

"Ah," the one sound was filled with such elation that it seemed Giovanni could care less that his worker was in danger. "So it seems Amber has finally awaken her powers," he paused long enough to grin. "Or at least, some of them."

Domino's gaze turned to him, eyes pleading, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. Feeling something on her leg, Domino looked down as best she could and barely saw a vine wrapping itself around her ankle. Slowly, and gradually tighter, the vine slid up her leg, then her hips and showed no sign of stopping.

"Amber," Ash shook the female slightly, hoping to get some response before she went to far. She didn't answer and the trainer tried again, only to get the same response. _It's like she's in a trance..._He thought looking back at Domino, who by now was in a panic, and Giovanni, no longer grinning as the vines starting inching towards him as well.

Now was the time to escape, Ash knew. With both Domino and Giovanni held by the thick vines of the forest, it gave just enough time to get well out of their way and into the city. "Amber, we have to go." Ash said forcefully, to no avail. _She'll kill them..._ The thought came so suddenly that Ash felt a sense of horror come with it, a sudden dread that he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Pika...?" Having watching the events with no small amount of confusion, Pikachu looked at Amber worriedly. Then, like most people who want to help solve a problem using their own area of expertise, there was a spark of electricity and the pokémon sent a well-aimed thundershock to the female.

"Pikachu-!" Ash began, cutting off as he saw Amber blink and the green aura that had surrounded her fade. Whatmore, the trainer (who had experienced his fair share of electric attacks and knew full-well the damage they could do) saw that his partner's attack had had no ill-effect on Amber, not a burn or even a hair out of place.

"What happened?" Amber asked, not even sounding injured.

Ash blinked in disbelief. "You don't remember?" He asked and Amber shook her head.

"_We should go_." Mewtwo reminded them, before Ash could answer. All things considered it was probably a good thing due to the fact Giovanni's persian had started to chew through the vines trapping its owner.

They hurried passed the incapacitated duo without a backwards glance. Ash was, for once, glad that Amber's powers had acted when they did but the trainer had something else on his mind. There was no longer a doubt that Amber was the hybrid Giovanni claimed she was (though the possibility still puzzled the trainer) but if that was true then was her pokémon half of the grass type? It made sense, Ash had never seen Amber manipulate anything other than plants and the female had had more than one chance to control something else, especially in this weather. _But why plants?_ Ash couldn't help but wonder. There were far more powerful types out there, yet grass wasn't one that inspired limitless power in the trainer...Was he missing something?

"How do we know Giovanni won't follow us into the city?" Amber questioned worriedly, snapping the trainer from his thoughts.

"He will," Ash said so plainly Amber wondered if he was serious or not. "But he won't be able to find us. I know one of the gym leaders in Cerulean and I know she'll help us." Seeing a look of disapproval on Mewtwo's face, Ash smirked. "Trust me, she should do anything to help. There's no way she'd let me take all the glory."

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**OMG. I'm so sorry it took so long to update D: I have no solid internet connection so I have to use it whenever I can find it and my school didn't load the pages right so I couldn't update there. I thank the fans who have favourited this ffic (but not reviewed ::hint, hint:: ;)) and I hope you all R&R! And don't worry, I'll try to update fast next time XD**


	5. Cornered

**DragonBlade152**: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it, seriously. I'm was afraid some people would hate it because of the nature XD Anywho, thanks for reading and I give you the next chapter! :D

**no name**: Thanks! I'll definitely try XD

**Nauran**: I doubt the intriguing will stop ;P Yeah, I've noticed a few mistakes here and there too but I'm going to finish posting the story before I review it and all that jazz. Thanks for reading!

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Cerulean City was empty despite the earliness of the night and that, coupled with the wind and rain of the raging storm, made it look like a ghost town. If it hadn't been for the lights on the local gym, it could have easily been mistaken for one as well. The Cerulean Gym stood dead center in the city, looking much like a beacon in the night, but it wasn't the outside that would hold most strangers in awe. The inside of the gym was famous for serving both as a battleground and an aquarium that housed the rarest and most beautiful of water pokémon in tanks that made up nearly all the walls of the gym.

It was the place Misty called home. Even after years of travelling the world with Ash and her friends to the point where she had almost called anywhere with them a home, the water pokémon specialist always felt a different sense of belonging when she came back to the gym and saw her sisters and the place where she had grown up. Truth be told she did miss the day-to-day adventures that had come with being with Ash, but her heart had always belonged to the gym and she knew her place was here.

Misty stood gazing into the sea of water and the sleeping pokémon within it, floating peacefully content in their home, when she heard the front door of the gym rattle. _Must be some storm out there..._she thought, suddenly glad she was safe within the gym. She could count on one hand how many times she had been caught in storms like this one and how many times she planned to repeat those experiences. She started to go further into the gym when the door rattled again, harder this time until the female felt inclined to check the lock. The last thing they needed was for the door to open in this mess with no way to close it again.

She had gotten all of five-feet from the door when a flash of lightning showed something silhouetted against the door and, after closer inspection, she saw it was a person. Wondering who was crazy enough to be out in a storm like this, she hurried to open the door and felt her jaw drop in a very unlady-like manner,

"What are you doing here?" She asked, somewhat shocked. Through the rain and wind, Ash smiled back at her and she noticed he was soaked through to the skin. Plus it looked like he had stopped to roll around in the grass on the way here. "Don't tell me you came here to get out of the rain," she said knowingly, with a small grin.

Ash laughed sheepishly. "Well...Not _entirely_."

"So let me get this straight," Misty took a deep breath and exhaled in an attempt to make sense of the story Ash had just told her, a task that proved difficult. "Giovanni remembers everything? So he's after you guys-" The gym leader glanced to Amber and Mewtwo, and sighed "-and, of course, Ash gets involved which drags him to me." She shook her head, looking at Mewtwo. "Not exactly the best way to meet again, huh?'

While she sounded calm enough to the others, inside she was surprised to see Mewtwo. She had long thought she'd seen the last of it back in Johto but a part of her was happy to see it again and yet slightly apprehensive after what had happened last time. Giovanni had become desperate and after being brainwashed and outsmarted he wasn't bound to take it well.

Then there was Amber...

"So you guys are friends?" Amber asked Misty to break the tense silence that filled the lowest room of the gym that made her voice echo through the near-empty room. She could tell Misty was unsure whether she could trust the hybrid or not, Ash had managed to tell the gym leader her full story while not actually telling Misty that Amber happened to be a hybrid, resulting in a very mixed story.

"Yeah," Misty nodded. "We used to travel the world not too long ago but then I came back here to run the gym with my sisters." Misty smiled and continued lightly. "It's always nice to come back home, you know?"

Amber didn't, not really. She often saw glimpses of the life of her past image, of a mother and a grieving father. Less often she saw images of the family in a past time, the three of them laughing, and Amber would feel a pang of envy in her chest. She couldn't help but wonder if Mewtwo felt the same, thinking back on its time with the other clones...With AmberTwo...

And why had she been shown that anyway? Had AmberTwo been some kind of memory, like the others? No. Amber didn't know how she came to the conclusion so suddenly but something told her this was different. It was as if something inside her was _warning _her of something bigger than the past. But _what_?

"Ash..." Misty's voice continued, lined with worry as the gym leader eyed the trainer with heavy concern. "What are you going to do?" She didn't need to elaborate, she knew. Even Ash couldn't run from the bigger problem saving Amber and joining with Mewtwo had created for him. He would have to stand and fight sooner or later against Giovanni and his organization as a whole, a big job even with him and Mewtwo working together.

Ash knew this as well. So many things could go wrong and, in truth, he felt more than a bit overwhelmed by it all even knowing he had back-up in Amber and Mewtwo, But what Giovanni had done was beyond unforgivable and he knew he couldn't just sit here while more people or pokémon suffered because of his greed. All he knew was that if he didn't do something, no one would.

"We have to stop him," he didn't state it as obvious but with a stone-set promise and an unusual spark in his dark eyes. "We've all seen what he can do and we can't let it happen to anyone else."

"_Still, the question of how remains._" Mewtwo reminded rationally. "_Under different circumstances, destroying Giovanni's plans would prove difficult but not impossible. However, with my powers diminished due to Amber's presence and Giovanni now willing to do anything, I fear our chances of victory are slim."_

Unseen by anybody, Misty's face twisted in confusion. _Amber's presence?_

"We still have to try," Ash said with unwavering determination, though a second later his expression turned slightly downcast as he turned to Amber. "But I'm not going to make you go back there," he told her. "Not when you just got away."

Amber opened her mouth to retort, and then closed it again. Ash had seen right through her like a window. She _didn't_ want to go back, she would rather risk running the attacking directly the man who she was running from. Yet, an urge was steadily growing in her. Had she really been the only one of her kind, or were these sudden dreams trying to tell her otherwise? Could she handle going back? The sudden fist holding her gut told her she couldn't...But she had to find out for herself.

Misty looked at the other female and wondered if she should ask Ash what was really going on, but decided against it. She knew Ash would only keep something from her if it was of vital importance and, what more, if _he_ trusted Amber, whoever she maybe, then so did she. Ash had always seen the good in people leading Misty to believe there was such in this girl. She had, after all, once been in Giovanni's grasp, that alone got her Misty's sympathy despite her mysterious background.

Suddenly, Misty frowned before standing up and looking at Ash. "Will you guys be alright here for a bit? There's something I have to take care of."

"Uh…Sure…" Ash said, unsure as to Misty's sudden need for departure and just watched as the female gave a curt wave then walked through the door they had come through, leaving the trio alone.

"Pika…" Pikachu tilted its head to one side, mirroring his partner's curiosity before leaping into Amber's lap, content.

Amber's face cracked a smile, though there was a bittersweet gaze in her eyes. _Weird indeed_ she thought as she petted the Pokémon absent-mindedly. Her ability to understand Pokémon no longer came as a shock to her since it was debuted that day back in the hospital though she wondered why she could never do it before. Then again, she had never had much of anything to talk to after her breakout until she met Ash.

"I wonder what that was about…" Ash said to no one in particular, but Amber took no notice.

Memories of her escape had resurfaced and she couldn't push them into the back of her mind this time. The lab…it had been a blur in her panic, and she had never been conscious inside it long enough to remember anyone (or anything) else in it. She did remember one thing, however, and that was a room. A room cut off from the main lab with a large slab of tinted glass. What was behind it? A nagging suspicion told the hybrid it wasn't good, and the same suspicion made her almost _want_ to go back.

If there really were others like her…

"_The possibility is great,"_ Mewtwo's voice abruptly flooded Amber's head, with a tone the hybrid couldn't tell angry from friendly.

Amber looked at Ash expecting a response from the trainer, who hadn't seemed to hear the Pokémon and was still looking at the door puzzled. Realizing they were talking through telekinesis, Amber looked back at Mewtwo.

_"How great?"_ Was the only question on her mind.

_"As he said before," _Mewtwo glanced at Ash before returning its gaze to the pool. _"We have already seen what Giovanni can do, you and myself are evidence of his abilities. Yet, there was a considerable length of time between our escapes. I doubt Giovanni stood idly during it."_

It was true, Amber realized. "_He said you and me were created side-by-side, but he didn't even know I existed until a few days before I escaped…Do you think it's because he was making other—"_

Mewtwo nodded. _"Giovanni's focus lays mainly in Pokémon cloning in attempts to create the most powerful Pokémon, one that will not challenge him. It is possible those who work under him dismissed your design due to your human appearance, believing Giovanni would do the same."_

Amber wished it were true. Had Giovanni just labeled her a failure she wouldn't be running from him. But, if he had, what reason would he have for keeping her alive? How many of his 'failures' had already been disposed of? She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, it made her sick to her stomach just thinking about it. How one person could make then destroy or enslave living creatures baffled her, even angered her.

_"Are you ready to face him?"_ Mewtwo asked, taking her silence as disbelief. In more ways than one Mewtwo was puzzled, and secretly amazed, by the hybrid. During its escape, Mewtwo hadn't done it out of fear like Amber, it had been blinded by rage and a sense of uselessness. It had been set on believing all humans were the same and the Pokémon who accepted them should be made to pay the same price as their trainers. It had fully believed what it was doing what the right thing, trying to bring a savage rebirth to the world. But how had that been any different than what Giovanni had been doing? Using Pokémon clones with superb powers to do your own bidding, to fight when they need to…Mewtwo had been wrong, and it took one trainer to make all the difference, to show it the error in its ways.

And now that same trainer was willing to jump into a madman's base to help not only it but Amber and any other creature suffering at Giovanni's hands. Had it been pure coincidence that lead the frightened hybrid to Ash, or luck? Mewtwo didn't know, but the opposite approaches Amber and it had towards their escape and view of the world had lead them to one common person, and one common goal.

A goal Amber was ready for. She now realized the only way to be truly free was to end Giovanni once and his operations once and for all. She just hoped the cost wasn't too high.

Seconds after the thought ran though her head Amber heard something upstairs, a sudden clamour that rocked the level above them. Looking at the expressions on the other three, she knew she wasn't the only one.

"There's no way…" Ash breathed, looking at Mewtwo in the hoped the pokémon would tell him something different but received a curt shake of the head. "I thought we'd have more time…" He cursed inwardly.

Another explosion, rocking the gym, went off and Ash clenched a fist before motioning for the others to follow him. While Ash hadn't been in the gym a great number of times, Misty had talked about it enough on their journey that he knew the only way out of the room they were in was either the front door or the underwater passage located in the pool. While it was commonly used for performance purposes, the passage now served as their only escape.

Just before they got ready to jump, however, Ash froze, his face almost panicked. He turned to the others before saying, "You guys go on ahead, and I'll catch up with you later." Seeing his to companions exchange glances, the trainer looked at Pikachu. "You go with them too. Make sure they don't run into trouble, okay?" Before anyone could protest, the trainer bolted for the other door, out of sight within seconds.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu called after him, a moment too late.

_"We must keep moving,_" Mewtwo told it, enveloping itself and the others in a rough bubble of energy and lowering them into the pool. With Mewtwo in the lead, they continued through the pool and the passage until they entered a small room, hardly big enough for the three of them, with a single door that brought them to the back of the gym.

Almost glad the storm had yet to cease, it at least provided them with some cover, the trio continued their way north of the gym towards what was known to trainers as Nugget Road. Nothing more than a golden-yellow bridge suspended above a small river, the bridge normally stood packed with determined trainers but this night found it empty, devoid of even a wild Pokémon. Soaked thoroughly, Amber could very well understand why.

By the time they reached the end of the bridge, Amber noticed a certain sound had rose in the air behind them, a sound she soon found she didn't recognize. Noticing the other two quicken pace, Amber figured it was a safe bet she wasn't the only one who heard it and rushed to keep up. As they continued through a maze of ledges and large boulders, the sound grew louder still, setting Amber on edge as they ducked behind a cluster of ledges as several grunts ran passed. Set to run again, the trio stood up only to nearly get burned by a sudden wall of fire that rose before them abruptly, setting their hiding place ablaze.

Scrambling to avoid the whipping flames, Amber jumped back and noticed the wall of fire had formed in a circle around them, trapping them.

"Don't even try to escape this time," a familiar voice sent a chill down the hybrid's spine. "You're surrounded."

Looking beyond the flames, Amber could make out the image of Domino staring back at her with a sneer on her face, the dancing lights casting a shadow that made the agent look sinister.

From above, the sound from before grew deafening until, at last, a helicopter came into view above the flames and smoke. Dimly, Amber saw something small drop from the craft and disappear into the smoke around them.

"Pika!" A sudden cry from the electric pokémon alerted the hybrid that something was up.

Turning, Amber barely had time to register what had happened before what felt like a bolt of lightening hit her, engulfing her in a wave of pain. Managing to open her eyes enough to see around her, Amber saw the other two ere in no better a position, though Mewtwo seemed to be doing a better job at holding back whatever had the hybrid trapped.

Domino's laugh managed to reach her through the hurt. "Just give up," she scoffed. "This entrapment was made _especially_ for you, Amber." She gestured to the cage-like bars around the hybrid, floating her a few feet above the ground and sparkling with electricity. "It's time for you to come back home."

Searching the bars for any sign of weakness where she could break through, Amber could hear the others struggling to free themselves, all to no avail as the ground below her started moving further away and towards the helicopter.

"Amber!" From the ground, Ash called to the hybrid with a flustered Misty at his side as they reached the edge of the fire ring. Pulling one of his pokéballs from his belt the trainer prepped to throw it until Misty brought a hand down on his arm, stopping him.

"It won't help," Misty told him, looking towards Pikachu and Mewtwo. "There's no way to get her out, Ash. You'll only end up hurting your Pokémon and causing more problems," she looked at him solemnly. "I'm sorry but we can't save her. Not _now_."

Ash looked at her, tempted to try anyway, but the logic of Misty's words hit him, and hit hard at that as he watched the cage carrying Amber returned to he helicopter and flew away into the darkness.

After a long silence, Ash turned to Domino, safe on the other side of the flames, anger clear in his dark eyes.

"You-!" He began sourly.

"Save it, kid." Domino cut across sternly, twisted her trademark flower between her fingers idly. "There's nothing you can do now and we're done here anyway." Her eyes drifted to Mewtwo with a twinkle in them Ash didn't like. "For _now_, that is."

Without waiting for a response, the agent threw the flower stem-first into the ground, causing a thick cloud of white smoke to engulf the rocket group.

Then it cleared, only Ash, Misty, Mewtwo and Pikachu remained in the burning field.

* * *

**LOOK! I'm not dead! And the story lives on at last! Hahahahah! Ahem, any who, thanks to those of you who still review for this story (all 3 of you :P) and to those of you favouriters out there who DON'T review please do because it really does make me want to update faster, no joke. SO PLEASE R+R! Until next time dear readers! :D**


	6. Reuniting for Freedom

**7: Well the wait is over :D**

**xbamsod: You'll find out soon enough ;)**

**Nauran: Quite. Good thing they'll have some ;) **

**DragonBlade152: If I made him a twerp I couldn't write this and enjoy it XD And thanks for the tip, I get them mixed up too :p**

* * *

The rest of the night passed in a blur for Ash.

After they failed to rescue Amber, Misty suggested a night's sleep would do them all some good and they returned to the gym where the trainer was lead to a small room that would serve as his temporary quarters while Mewtwo kept watch just outside the door. Ash couldn't remember when he had crawled into the small bed, nor how long he lay there awake staring at the gray-tiled ceiling above his head. He didn't remember hearing the storm outside cease or even falling asleep, which he had a suspicious he hadn't. There was only one thing on his mind the entire night and it clawed at his brain, leaving hundreds of questions behind.

And that was the promise he had made to Amber.

The promise that had been broken.

_I'm not going to let you get hurt anymore Amber...I'll have you smiling at the end of this. I promise. _He knew it wouldn't be easy to keep when he said it but the trainer had never let anyone down before when he could help it and a pang of guilt washed over him when he realized, had he not left her alone, she would still be here. Had he not gone to help Misty, who had already known of the Rocket's appearance in the gym and already prepared her sister's for it, he could have helped Amber escape, could have created a distraction for the grunts, could have done _anything_ but let her get caught again.

But he hadn't, now had he?

Now Amber was in Giovanni's hands once more and it made Ash sick. Never before had he hated a single person so much and it scared him, all the feelings he was having kept building upon themselves: hate, dejection, fear. All feelings he had never felt before towards anyone, no matter how cruel their intentions, but now he was feeling them all at once and he didn't know what to do. So bad he wanted to make Giovanni pay for what he's done, but the terror he wouldn't be able to control himself when the time came overpowered his sense of justice.

When did his quest become so difficult? It had seemed so easy at first, to become the greatest trainer the world had ever seen and, even during some hardships Ash always knew his goal was never to far off so long as it was still in his heart. Kanto, Johto, Hoean, he had gone everywhere with the same goal glued to the forefront of his mind but for the first time he felt that goal challenged by something he couldn't control.

But what could he do about it?

He had done a lot in his short life, but nothing as challenging as meeting a hybrid (granted there weren't many out there). While a part of him still refused to believe that Giovanni had gone that far, a stronger part told him he had no choice to believe it, especially when that hybrid had spent the last few days with him. Especially when he had made a promise to that hybrid, a promise that he _had_ to keep or else…

He didn't want to think about.

And there was only _one_ thing he could do now.

* * *

Misty blinked like she had been slapped. "You're serious?" She asked, almost hushed as if she were afraid of someone overhearing the trainer's plan. "But how do you even-"

"It'll work," Ask cut across evenly in much the same tones without facing her as he continued to stare into one of the aquarium walls. "It has to…" He added in a whisper, lowering his head slightly.

Misty stared at the trainer's back before looking to Mewtwo, who showed neither support nor displeasure of the trainer's plan, and frowning. "Ash…" She sighed. "I know how much you want to protect Amber, but is this really the best way?"

Ash turned to look at her with that dead-determination in his eyes that Misty had come to miss and nodded simply.

Misty frowned but shook her head. Same old Ash. Once he had his mindset on something there was no talking him out of it. Sighing inwardly, and wondering how she always managed to get roped into these situations, the gym leader placed her hands on her hips and grinned. "Then it looks like we're getting the ol' team back together again, huh?"

"Pika!" Pikachu cheered, leaping off the ground in excitement as Ash smiled at the two, hoping he wasn't leading them astray with his plan…or _himself_.

* * *

They arrived at Pewter City in next to no time. With Mewtwo's powers no longer constrained, the journey had been swift and Ash was thankful for it. Every second passed was just another that Amber would be in Giovanni's hands.

"Some places never change…" Ash heard Misty said as they began to walk the path to the gym, thankful the city wasn't heavily populated and that Mewtwo still had its makeshift cloak to hide itself from the curious few on the road.

Pewter City had been one of the most memorable places of Ash's journey. It had been the place where he considered his journey to be a Pokémon Master to begin, where he had earned his first badge after his first big loss and where he had met the last of his best friends. The city itself was famous not only for the gym but the Pewter Museum of Science located on the northwest side of the city where valuable Pokémon fossils were on display. Ash had made a point to visit it every time he stopped by, but more important matters kept him from fulfilling that task on this day.

The gym stood just below the gym to the southwest. Relatively small compared to other gyms, the Pewter City gym prided itself on the mastery of rock-type Pokémon. The inside of the gym looked similar to a rock garden, and provided just enough room for the largest of rock Pokémon to maneuver without knocking the building over.

It was in here they found Brock, the Pewter City Gym leader and Pokémon breeder.

"Pikachu!" The first to greet the breeder, Ash's partner ran to Brock's heels before he even had time to turn around fully.

Spotting the Pokémon, Brock's face split into a wide smile. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to stop by for a visit." Brock mocked as Ash and Misty greeted him before looking at Mewtwo. "Looks like _everyone_ decided to come by." He added somewhat perplexed, as he paused thoughtfully for a second. "That or Ash managed to get on someone's bad side again, like he always does…"

"I do not!" Ash rejected more defensively than he meant to, then blushed when Brock laughed.

"I know you Ash. There's no way you _and_ Misty, not to mention Mewtwo, would just stop by without telling me first." He said full-knowingly, folding his arms. "So tell me what's _really_ up."

Ash told him everything, and that included the fact the person they were trying to save happened to be not fully human, surprising both his friends. He told them of the first time he meet Amber, the attacks from Domino and Giovanni, meeting Mewtwo and everything after. By the time he finished both Misty and Brock had repulsed expressions.

"So…Now you see…" Ash finished quietly as a silence engulfed the gym.

"So, even after all this time, Giovanni _still_ hasn't learned not to toy with creatures lives?" Brock asked disgusted, clenching a fist. There were times when he almost forgot how the world beyond his city was, how not every place was as small and quiet as his little city and that people like Giovanni were out there.

"_He never will." _For the first time since the night before, Mewtwo's voice reached the trainer and gym leaders with a noticeably virulent tone.

"Then what can we do?" Brock asked after it was clear the Pokémon had nothing else to say, though he didn't take his eyes of it.

"Ash has a plan." Misty informed them, motioning for the trainer to continue.

Ash nodded and took a deep breath. His plan hadn't been completely thought out, in honesty, but he knew what they had to do in a nutshell. "We go to Cinnabar Island and stop Giovanni once and for all."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Brock questioned, relatively taken aback by the trainer's half-minded declaration.

"Amber said that she felt like the place where she escaped was an island of some sort," Ask explained, "And Cinnabar's the only one that's close enough that she could make it to Celadon City in just three days."

Misty shifted her weight, uneasily. "Even if we do get there, how are we going to find them?"

"Team Rocket wouldn't just put out the welcome mat either," Brock added, feeling the female's anxiousness. "It's going to be a tough battle, one we have to be prepared for, Ash."

Ash sighed. "I know, but I think I know where they'll be and if we're careful we might be able to have the element of surprise." This part he was sure of, he had spent most of the night before thinking of what Amber had said and came to the only logical conclusion as to where she would have been taken.

"And where's that?" Brock pressed.

"The abandoned mansion."

Misty's jaw almost dropped. "You can't be serious!"

Brock nodded in agreement, crossing his arms in confusion. "Misty's right, Ash. Isn't that a bit too obvious?"

"Well yeah, but it's perfect." Ash told them then, seeing the doubting looks they still had, added "If everyone thinks the mansion is abandoned no one's going to think anything's happening there now, right?"

"_Hiding in plain site…" _Mewtwo stated with a slight nod. _"It's something Giovanni's perfected over the years." _It was true, the gym leaders realized, considering how many of Team Rockets activities when unnoticed by the authorities or the general public until they _wanted_ it to be.

"This is crazy," Misty sighed, though there was no real enervation in her tones.

"Of course it is. It's Ash who's come up with the idea after all." Brock told her, then smiled. "But, like all those times before, it's always for a good reason and for someone else's purpose. It's a adventure." Turning to the trainer, he gave a thumbs up. "And I'm up for it, Ash."

"I'm in too. There's no way I'd let you two take all the glory." Misty remarked, mimicking Brock's gesture.

Ash returned the gestures, an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and new kindled hope flooding through him. "Thanks, guys."

"Pika!" His partner cheered, clambering on Ash's shoulder to fix him with an equally determined smile.

_"Let us hope it is not too late." _Mewtwo stated and Ash narrowed his eyes.

_ Hold on Amber, we're coming…_

* * *

_**Shoop. There's the next chapter, hope you all take the time to review because seeing all the favs and like 4 reviews breaks my heart D': If you read, PLEASE REVIEW. It takes 5 secs. Srsly**  
_


	7. To Cinnabar Island

**StarWriterWG:Don't worry. I don't plan on stopping until it's done XD I'm glad you're enjoying it and thanks for the tips. Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

**beastmode953: Reviews are review, no make how long. They make me happy and hence I will keep writing :)**

**Nauran: And no one likes not having any input on their work :P**

**DragonBlade152: I love them too, especially Misty. She just has that silly charm. Here's the next chapter!**

* * *

"Is this the place?"

As Ash looked around the island, he knew it couldn't be anywhere else. Cinnabar Island, to keep in truth with the name, was themed in the signature colour of bright reds and mercury. Famous for it four main structures: The Pokémon Mansion, Pokémon Lab, gym and volcano, the island was an ideal place for tourists. But, as Ash and the others had found out (or rather had come to assume), it held far more then just breathtaking attractions.

Not for the first time Ash wondered how he could have missed it. There had always been a rumour that surrounded the island that drew the more curious of tourist to it. The story of a rickety, burned-down mansion on the island that got its name because a famous pokémon researcher once lived there, one who supposedly experimented on all types of pokémon, trying to find a way to improve the species as a whole, only to have the building nearly destroyed by his ambitions. Now there's irony for you, if you believed in such things. Ash shivered just at the thought.

They walked in silence, more out of anticipation than anything, until they arrived at the old building. A rickety, skeletal structure stood before them, looming over them like a dark pretense, the smell of burnt wood and ash wafted through the air sending a shiver down the trio's spines. "This is it." Misty said, hushed as if she was afraid of the building, or it's occupants, overhearing them.

Ash took a deep breath and took a step forward. "Let's go."

Brock stopped him. "How are we supposed to find where to go?" The gym leader asked, something that had been on his mind since the start. None of them knew a great amount about the island, let alone the mansion and it's layout, and Brock hardly liked the idea of them walking right into the heart of Team Rocket operations without some kind of plan behind them. That alone would only spell disaster.

"Are we even sure she's here?" Misty added in much the same tones.

"_She's here." _Mewtwo assured evenly.

"Your powers again?" Ask figured, receiving a curt nod in reply.

"That answers one question at least." Misty said, though the other problem still remained. "But how are we going to find where she is in this mess?"

"Knowing Giovanni, he probably built some kind of lab under the mansion…" Brock said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Since hardly anyone visits the mansion anymore, it would only make sense to build something under it in case something ever happened to the building."

"So there has to be a kind of underground stairway hidden somewhere," Ash finished, looking at the building, knowing they would have their work cut out for them. Searching a building this size with only the three of them and with who knows how many grunts and other Team Rocket members just underneath them already had the trainer worried. Worried that if they were found, thing would go bad quickly and Amber would be doomed to whatever fate Giovanni hand planned.

But they still had to try, right?

'Try' being the problem word, after what felt like hours of scrounging through piles of burnt wood and checking floor upon floor for some kind of panel, button or switch to led them further into the bases and finding nothing, even after using a variety of their Pokémon to help, Misty let out a groan, just beating Brock to it.

"I don't think this is working you guys." She sighed, rubbing her temples in frustration as the three of them stopped in one of the larger rooms, occupied by rubble and what remained of stone pillars that were scattered through out the mansion that seemed to once have had statues of some Pokémon on top of them but now were nothing more than distorted masses.

"Pika…" Ash's partner agreed, walking to a charred pillar and slumping against it with a small groan. A second later, a sudden _clunk_ sounded from the pillar caused the pokémon to jump up, cheeks sparking, when the floor under it unexpectedly shifted, sending the creature tumbling down a shaft before anyone knew how to react.

"Pikachu!" Ash called after his Pokémon, racing to the edge of the shaft before he realized it was nothing more than a hidden stairwell and his partner was no more than three stairs down, the rest of the stairs descending so far down Ash couldn't see where they ended. Regardless, it was what they had been looking for.

"Shall we?" Misty asked, happy to final have someplace to make progress, and proceeded down the stairs before anyone had the chance to answer, soon followed by the rest of the group. The stairs, as far as Ash could tell, lead straight down with no noticeable turns or anything and went on for what must have been a good half-mile by his judgment until they reached the bottom.

Now surrounded by cold gray and metallic walls that made the group shiver, not in the least because the temperature had dropped significantly, the mansion had become a spacious room with hall branching off in several directions. Feeling like they were now trapped in a rat maze, the group looked at each other, clearly at a lost as to where to go, before Brock shook his head.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." He said after the long silence had taken over the group and it became obvious someone had to say it.

"Me too." Ash admitted, after thought. Something didn't seem quite right and Ash felt a subtle paranoia growing inside him and he almost wished something, _anything_ really, would happen, at least letting them know they were on the right track.

"This whole thing seems to easy." Misty agreed, looking around the room worriedly.

Brock nodded. "You're right, we haven't run into one member of Team Rocket or anyone else for that matter."

"_Giovanni knows we are here. We must be on our guard." _Mewtwo told them, and the trainers nodded.

As if on cue, the sound of running footsteps on the metal plated ground rose up from one of the hallways, causing the group to tense. A second later a pair of grunts appeared around the corner, cutting of one means of the group's escape.

"Hold it right there!" One shouted, drawing a pokéball from their belt.

"Not another step!" The other shouted, mimicking the other's movement.

"Pika!" Pikachu stepped forward, ready for the upcoming fight but was abruptly cut off by the two gym leaders, drawing their own Pokémon as they did so.

"Ash! Go on ahead!" Misty told him, without turning to look at the trainer and thereby missing the shocked look he gave her and Brock.

"We'll handle this!" Brock added.

"But—"

"C'mon Ash, you're not the only one who's gotten a little better over the years." Misty cut in with cocky tones, this time turning to grin at the trainer with a twinkle in her eyes that dared him to stop her.

"Besides, Amber needs you." Brock reminded in similar tones. While he had never met Amber, Brock felt obligated to protect her just like his friends despite his not even knowing what she looked like. After all, experience had told him Ash wouldn't just risk life and limb for someone with questionable morals, and if Ash thought she was well worth saving it went double for him.

"Right…" Ash looked at his friends, knowing their pride would keep him from helping before nodding and running down the nearest hall, shouting a last, "Good luck!" over his shoulder.

"_Was that wise?" _Mewtwo asked as soon as they were clear of the battle, which was already rising up behind them with brutal echoes.

Ash didn't break pace before answering confidently "Both of them are world-famous gym leaders. They can handle themselves."

"_Can the same be said of you?"_ The pokémon questioned, catching Ash off-guard, then elaborated on the point._ "We are about to enter a battle unlike any other and I fear we maybe over our heads."_

"That maybe true." Ash said slowly as they rounded another corner and he wondered briefly if they were even going in the right direction. "But I'm not going to give up, no matter what."

Mewtwo looked at the trainer but said nothing. There was still a great deal about humans the psychic Pokémon didn't understand and it had come to the point where it doubted it ever would. How one species could have a juxtaposition of people like Giovanni and the trainer by his side had it at a loss, yet Mewtwo was thankful for it. Without the trainer standing up for what he believed so strongly in during their first encounter, Mewtwo would have ended up with an outlook much like Giovanni and that was something the Pokémon feared to think about.

Another Rocket grunt suddenly appeared in front of them and the three of them stopped as he reached for the Pokémon at his waist.

"Hey you-!" Was a far as he got before a blue light engulfed him and sent him slamming into the nearest wall.

"_She is close._" Mewtwo said in response to the look Ash gave it and the trainer just nodded and continued down the current hallway until he nearly tripped over his partner who had stopped abruptly just up ahead.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu had stopped to point at a set of offset coloured double-doors that the trainer was sure he would have missed in his haste without his partner there.

"This must be it." Ash said, his heart skipping a beat as he realized they were one step closer to finishing their task at hand. Seeing the doors glow that same blue, the trainer prepped himself for the next challenge as the doors opened.

But, nothing could have prepared him for what laid behind them.

It was like walking into a horror movie. Metals walls suddenly turned to cold stone, the light suddenly turned dim and it was as though they had walked right into a freezer. Ash could see his own breath fogging in front of his eyes and felt a shiver down his spine but even that wasn't enough to get him to take his eyes off what was in front of him. What it was, he didn't know, but what looked like a crystal ball suspended in mid-air and filled with a vivid blue liquid was placed in the middle of the room like a prized centerpiece, glowing a light green that casted an eerie glow throughout the room. And in the center of this orb floated a figure, chained to stay in the center by its wrists and ankles resulting in the individual hanging rather limply in their prison.

"Amber!" It was out of Ash's mouth before he could stop it, before he could even think that it might not be Amber in that thing. But he knew he would have just been kidding himself. Faced with the reality of the situation, Ash's mind frantically began to contemplate of ways of setting the hybrid free when a dark, familiar voice rose up from above him.

"She can't hear you, boy." The tone made Ash clench a fist as he raised his head to a small platform in one corner, shadowed by the lack of light but visible enough that Ash could make out the shape of a man staring down at them.

"Giovanni..." The trainer growled under his breath, something dark flashing behind his eyes as he struggled to keep his voice calm. "Let her go!"

Giovanni sneered, amusement dancing in his tones. "I don't think that very wise, but I've never been a man to refuse a last wish." He raised his hand enough that Ash could see some kind of remote in his grasp and the two red buttons on its surface.

Ash glared at him, on edge as the man pressed one of them, before turning back to Amber's prison. Sure enough, the liquid was draining rapidly and the sphere lowering to the ground at a subtler pace until it just barely touched the ground before the group. There was a loud hiss before the prison opened slowly, followed by the snapping of chains as Amber was released to the floor

"Amber?" Ash looked at the hybrid who hadn't even acknowledged the fact she was free or that the trainer was even there, uneased by the look in her eyes.

"Pikachu?" Judging by the way they were looking at her, Ash knew his partner and Mewtwo were feeling much the same way.

"Amber! Listen to me!" Ash tried again, still getting no response from the female and feeling a sudden nervousness wash over him. It was almost as though Amber had gone deaf, but even that didn't account for the look in her eyes. They were unfocused, as if she were asleep or…

"Ash!" Brock's voice sounded from the hallway and a second later both gym leaders ran into the room both of them somewhat winded but fine, much to Ash's relief, as Misty looked at Amber and gasped.

"What…Is that…?" Now that Misty had pointed to it, Ash didn't know how he hadn't noticed it himself. Around each of Amber's limbs, along with her forehead, were what Ash could only assume where braces of some nature. Each of them glowed a faint red and, as far they trainers could tell, weren't going to just fall off on their own.

"Those, children, are what's keeping this defiant hybrid under my control." Giovanni informed them, much in the nature of one bragging about their biggest discovery, before he turned an artful look to Mewtwo. "They should look a tad familiar to you, friend," he told it, and then considered. "Of course, you destroyed the main unit, forcing me to think smaller and more powerful."

Realizing what was going on, Ash started forward violently. "I'll-"

"_Wait." _Mewtwo stopped him, stepping forward before the trainer could, cutting him off.

"What are you doing?" Ash demanded, his frustration finally boiling over.

"It's a trap, Giovanni wants you more than anything don't—"

Whatever Misty was trying to warn them of was abruptly cut off as a wall of glass abruptly sprang up from the floor, nearly catching the group in its path but wholly fulfilling its evident task to separate them from Mewtwo, now trapped on the other side of the glass with Amber.

"Not then," Giovanni said, grinning down at his two creations shrewdly. "Shall we see which one of you is the most powerful?'

* * *

**DERP. Lame chapter, kinda lost motive from this ffic BUT IT WILL BE FINISHED. Son;t get me wrong. There's only like 2.5 chapters left anywayz. If you read, please review and tell me what you think.**


	8. Creation Vs Creation

Ash slammed a fist on the glass, which didn't even quiver under the force. From the other side he could only watch as the brained washed hybrid stepped forward, her eyes unreadable, cloudy and sent a chill down Ash's spine. For a while, it seemed that all she would do was stand and stare at her reluctant competition until she slowly moved a hand through her long hair, pulling something from it.

A single strand of hair, barely seen by the trainers.

It didn't stay that way for long, however as the same green aura from before engulfed it, transforming it before anyone could think of how or to what use. When the light vanished a slender blade had taken its place, coloured the same as the hybrids hair but wielding a threat tenfold of its predecessor, and held with the knowledge of a connoisseur. Ash saw Mewtwo tense, obviously dubious how to deal with this turn of events, as were the rest of them.

"Pika!" His partner called through the glass to Amber who merely ignored the call.

"Amber don't do this!" Ash exclaimed, hoping someway the hybrid would snap out of her trance, or whatever it was Giovanni had done, then shot a hopeful look at Mewtwo. "Isn't there some way to stop her?"

Mewtwo shook its head. "_Those devices can only be stopped by the one who they intend to control. If any outside force should attempt to break that control or force her will to do anything…" _the sentence drifted but the warning was clear.

"But—" Ash cut off as the hybrid suddenly lunged forward with more speed then he thought possible but just slow enough that Mewtwo was able to dodge the tip by mere inches. For a quick second Amber was near enough that Ash could see her clearly for the first time, his eyes automatically drawn to the devices that had turned her against him and the veins that seemed to spread from them over her skin in a sickly grey color.

But she didn't stop there. Twisting her body around, she managed to plant a swift and unseen kick to the pokemon's chest, sending it back a full five feet before returning to her fighting stance. Mewtwo righted itself, ignoring the stab of pain that shot through its torso as Amber continued her assault.

Every attempted blow brought new fear to the spectators behind the glass, and more distress to Mewtwo's expression as it raised hurried shields to block the flurry. It was a match of speed, of who could think the fastest and either block or attack, and the one who proved slowest would suffer the consequences. Ash only wished it wasn't Mewtwo who would endure the anguish. And, as if she had read his mind, Ambers eyes flashed the trademark green signaling her powers and abruptly the latest protection her opponent had raised vanished and in one swift move Amber's arm shot forward, sword slicing through the air and Mewtwo's shoulder.

"Amber stop!" Ash exclaimed, watching as Mewtwo held its shoulder with its uninjured hand, though trickles of blood streamed down from the wound.

"It's useless, boy," Giovanni's voice filled the glass cube, giving everyone within it chills as they watched the horrific scene before them, helplessly.

"Why are you doing this?" Brock exclaimed resentfully, knowing Giovanni could hear them as well as they could hear him. "It doesn't make any sense!"

Giovanni laughed, a cold, sickening sound. "It doesn't have to make sense to_ you_. But to me, it is my life's work. To create the most powerful Pokémon the world has ever seen and claim this land as my own. To raise armies of clones and take the world by storm. To change life as you know it, to create a revolution. All of which, children, are the reasons why Amber was created in the first place."

"_You're sick_," Misty spat, her voice strained as she tried to keep sudden tears back. "You're nothing but a sick, twisted, power hunger jerk!"

"That maybe the case," Giovanni said, something about his tone told the trio he was smiling from the balcony. "But look where we stand now, my dear, and be sure to get a good look…" He chuckled softly. "Because, once she's finished here, _you're _next."

Ash said nothing, his face unreadable as the battle continued from the other side of the glass, mind working frantically to think of ways to stop it before it was too late. He knew Amber could hear them from Pikachu's earlier reaction, but she would not _listen_. Not to anybody but Giovanni thanks to the devices on her arms and legs.

Ash cursed inwardly. It had been a bad idea from the start, to try and overthrow Giovanni. It was _stupid. _Stopping an organization as big as Team Rocket with only two gym leaders and a trainer then the one thing he desired…What was he thinking?

Abruptly withdrawing a pokéball from his belt, Ash clenched the item, not wanting to thing of what would happen if this failed and called out one of his first pokémon from a few regions ago. A white light flared from the pokéball, spilling of the floor a few feet in front of him and gradually took shape until a red-orange, almost lanky Pokémon stood in front of Ash, looking almost as if it were on fire.

"Ash…What…" Misty started, confusion lining her voice.

"We have to try _something_, right?" Brock told her, understanding fully what Ash planned to do.

"Right." Ash agreed then pointed to the glass separating them from Amber and Mewtwo. "Try using your fire, Infernape!"

Almost immediately the Pokémon snarled in understanding, opened its mouth, seconds later a blast of fire erupted in the air, an intense heat filling the enclosed area that the trainers raised their hands to shield their faces. When the heat subsided, they lowered their arms and felt their hearts sink.

Not even a mark.

"Let's try this. Go Starmie!" Misty exclaimed, refusing to give up, throwing her own pokéball, releasing a larger, star-shaped creature. "Use hydro pump!"

Holding their breath in anticipation, the trainers watched as the Pokémon hopped once, getting into stance, then shot a concentrated jet of water at the glass, the resulting spray soaking the trio but was just as effective as the last.

Brock drew one last pokéball, gritting his teeth in frustration "If that won't work then we'll just have to smash it." Releasing what could only be described as a rock with arms. "Geodude, break down that wall!" The Pokémon grunted and launched itself at the wall, arms flailing in a blur as its attack pounded the glass, again and again.

"Your determination is admirable, trainers." Giovanni rewarded crossly, after the pounding ceased and the glass held strong. "Unfortunately, it's all for nothing. Even if you did escape Amber cannot be stopped, by _anyone_." He finished, something in his voice making the trainers realize he was right. _Now what?_

"_If I cannot stop __her__, I will stop __you__." _Mewtwo interjected, eyes flaring a vivid sapphire as it dodged Amber's next attack, forcing her back and swiftly took a familiar fighting stand, energy and a sudden gust surrounding it and even through the glass Ash could feel the crackle in the air from its powers sending shivers up his spine.

As the sudden wind picked up, Ash could see a small, dark orb begin to form like the center of a black hole between the pokémon's hands, growing until it was nearly as big as a soccer ball. Recognizing the signature attack, Ash felt hope bloom anew on the other side of the brawl, and as Mewtwo's attack tore through the air, straight for the Rocket leader he could hear his friends hold their breath in hope, even as the assault seemingly exploded in mid-air, doming around Giovanni, harmlessly. A force field.

"You don't think I expected as much from you, old friend? This entire facility is protect from your psychic powers, thanks to my research based on Amber's powers, which are far greater than yours." Giovanni stated, his voice sleek and tranquil. As he continued his voice was amused as if the events below were systematized entertainment. "In fact, I think it's about time you finally saw the gap in your powers."

Before Mewtwo could respond, Amber was behind it. "You…cannot escape," Her voice was quiet, a hollow sound as she placed her hands on the pokemon's arms in a simple and almost _gentle _gesture that was betrayed by the sudden scream of pain that came from Mewtwo as emerald energy travelled from the hybrid to the Pokémon, almost electrocuting, surrounding them in a dome of energy and smoke.

"No!" Ash cried, slamming against the glass. As his cry rang through the chamber Mewtwo opened its eyes, teeth gritted against the pain as its own blue energy snaked through Amber's and released one last surge of energy. The wave broke Amber's hold and caused her to stumble back, a faint trail of smoke coming from both hands as Mewtwo collapsed to one knee, throwing out a burned arm to support its weight to keep from sinking completely.

Regaining her composure Amber, looked up fiercely at the pokémon that was struggling to draw air back into its lungs, before holding her choice weapon in front of her. As her eyes began to glow once more, raw power filling and sparking through the air, the same energy flooding over the blade until it became a mass of energy, growing and thinning until it was barely wider then her arm, thinning at the tip until it was no wider then the hair it was created from. Newly armed with a whip, the hybrid cracked it once the sound snapping off the walls and bring a new fear to the trainers as she dashed forward.

For a while it seemed like the two were in a stalemate, despite Amber's offense on Mewtwo, who had managed to right itself and dodge the hybrid first attack by inches, as they both circled around each other in a deadly dance of whips and hastily raised shields. But, it became obvious to everyone Mewtwo's defense was wavering, its shields rising more and more slowly, even waning under Amber's attacks until at last, no shield came and the whip came bearing down.

The next one hit it square in the chest, another electric pulse shooting through Mewtwo's body

"Pika!" Pikachu cried out as the psychic Pokémon hit the ground, laying on its front motionless.

"No…" Ash breathed, eyes staring at the Pokémon, willing it to move, stand…_anything._

"I can't watch this." Misty said, she voice catching as she turned away, a hand to her mouth.

"I don't understand. If he wants both of them so bad why make them fight to the death?" Brock said, the anger in his voice matched only by the agony lining it.

"Who said anything about to the death?" Giovanni's voice rose up, victory making it arrogant. "I'm simply having them fight until Mewtwo's spirit and body give in to my will, something it should have done a long time ago."

"You monster…" Misty murmured.

"I'm only sorry you kids won't be able to appreciate what I've done here," The leader said, no remorse or sorrow to be found.

"It's not over yet…" Ash said faintly, watching helplessly as Amber walked over to Mewtwo's prone form, whip transforming once again into its sword counterpart. But as she drew back for the next and last blow a light, blindingly pink, filled the room a faint shape taking form in the middle of the room high above the battle.

"It can't be…" Ash whispered and he heard Giovanni gasped as the light started to dissipate. Even before the blinding pink light had vanished completely, the creature within it was already know to the majourity in the room.

"_Mew_…" Mewtwo, fighting unconsciousness, somehow managed to look up enough to see its lively counterpart turn a brief summersault before its vision blurred and it recoiled in white-hot pain.

The new arrival blinked down at its defeated equal and mewled softly as it floated to eye level with Mewtwo, cocking its head slightly.

"Mew?" It seemed to ask and unable to answer, Mewtwo let out a soft laugh, recoiling as pain shot through it again.

Giovanni laughed, exhilaration flooding his voice. "Yes! This is even better than I imagined! Amber, my dear, what do you say we join our newest guest in our little game?"

As if in response, Amber's weapon transformed again and once again bearing her whip the hybrid, her amber eyes set to Mew, who floated above its clone eying the hybrid suspiciously. With a flick of her wrist, Amber sent the whip towards the new arrival, which merely moved swiftly out of the way effortlessly, turning a summersault and tittering profusely and causing an agitated grunt on Giovanni's end. It went unheard by the trainers, currently stunned by recent events. Why had Mew had reappeared after all this time? Could it be because it knew Mewtwo was in trouble? Or some other reason? They didn't know, and frankly Ash didn't care because for the first time it seemed like something had an advantage against Amber and he was thankful for it. Maybe they could all get out of this….alive.

In a seemingly haphazard move, Mew landed on the hybrid's head, sitting as though it belonged there before Amber's eyes flared with energy, becoming enclosed in it before it physically forced the playfully creature off. But as the energy faded, Mew latched onto the hybrid again, this time wrapping loosely around her arm, its tail bound at her wrist until a pink energy clouded over the green in a wasp tug-of-war until the pink overtook the green, enveloping Amber.

The energy spiked through the hybrid, making her cry out throwing a hand to her head in pain as the pokémon retreated to the sky. Unseen to it, the whip turned sharply in mid-air grapping its left foot before Mew could avoid it and Amber threw her arm down, the motion travelled through the whip and sending the Pokémon to the ground. Mew hit the ground, hard, as Amber froze. For what seemed like an eternity, the hybrid just stood there over Mew posed for the killing blow. But it never came.

Instead, the sound of something breaking filled the lab. At first just a short _snap,_ the sound gradually morphed into a series of splintering cracks before anyone noticed the lines that were running down Amber's restraints were Mew had sat, sparks erupting from each one until, at last, a green light shone through the breakage.

Soon after, the energy spread through the room, electricity sparking from every machine it touched, until at last an explosion rocked the lab.

* * *

**OMG I forgot this story existed. And yet so many of you faved it (but didn't review, hint hint) but here's the next chapter and after this there 1 left and a epilogue and it's DONE. FINALLY. if you read please do review, tell me how rushed and awful this chapter was PLEASE.**


	9. The Downfall

"Ash...?"

Misty's voice came in distant echoes as the trainer opened his eyes slowly, groaning as the lights from the lab pierced his sight. Raising a hand to block them, the trainer blinked several times before Misty's image came in clear and he saw the state of the room as well as his friend. Sitting up, instantly regretting so as fireworks went off in his head and a wave of nausea washed over him, Ash waiting for them to pass before asking what had happened.

"We're not sure, to be honest." Misty told him, helping him to sit up straight so he could better view the surroundings, though there was hardly anything to look at anymore. The lab had been reduced to…nothing. Only piles of charred scrap metal lay here and there, Ash assumed they had come from the ceiling as well seeing as how the upper level was now visible, a dull light pouring in barely managed to light the darkened room.

"Are you alright?" Ash asked Misty, looking over the female who looked no better off then he felt. Scratches and bruises were visible under her tattered clothes and she was holding her arm, wincing every so often.

"I'm fine, kinda." She assured him with a quick smile before looking around anxiously. "Where's Brock?"

"Over here!" The leader's panicked voice rose up from somewhere behind them and they turned to see frantic arms waving over piles of debris. "Hurry!"

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, sounding equally as flustered.

Ash and Misty exchanged worried looks before she helped him to his feet, draping an arm over her good shoulder and limping over to the rest of their group. They had barely gone ten feet before Ash saw what had Brock in such a panic. Laying motionless on the ground were Amber and Mewtwo among the debris, Brock kneeling above them with Mew floating desolately by his side and Pikachu at his feet, each of them regarding at the fallen pair.

"Amber! Mewtwo!" Ash shouted, running over to the hybrid as fast as he and Misty could, pushing through the fallen structure.

"Ash…." Brock began, his voice deathly quiet as the two made their way over. He feared the worse, and his face showed it. After spending time with a handful of breeders and professors Brock had seen injuries and illness of all kinds and he knew things were looking grim for both of them.

"Brock, are you-" Misty started only to be cut off by Brock, his voice serious.

"Fine, I'm not the one to worry about right now." He interjected, eyes returning to the hybrid and Pokémon.

"Are they…" Ash asked, voice cracking as a dread washed over him that almost send him back to the ground, and Misty squeezed his arm encouragingly.

"No," Brock assured but he didn't look up to his friend, and that alone reignited Ash's panic. "But we have to get them out of here before anything else happens."

"Mew…" The pale Pokémon was also battered but conscience at least, and as it moved to peer into its counterpart's face, Ash felt something in him break. They couldn't have lost…not after everything…not after all that. They had come so far...

Too far to just have it end like _this_….

"Wake up! Both of you!" He screamed, fear overwhelming him.

But his cries went unheard.

* * *

It was dark, and an uneasy and familiar sense swept over Amber as she looked around at the nothingness she seemed to be floating over since she could feel no ground beneath her. She had been here before, she knew, not that long ago before everything had happened with Giovanni. But she couldn't remember…

"_Where are we_?" Floating next to her, Mewtwo looked down at her, eyes questioning.

"I don't know…" She answered quietly, confused. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was Giovanni and the lab…then nothing. And now she was here, with Mewtwo no less but where were Ash and the others? Were they okay? Amber paled at the thought. Giovanni had mentioned something about her taking care of Ash, hadn't he?

"You mean you don't recognize this place?" A small voice asked, breaking the hybrid out of her thoughts as her and Mewtwo looked up to see a recognizable young girl above them.

"Ambertwo…?" The name reached Amber's lips before she knew it and she immediately winced as a pain shot through her head setting off stars, and recent memories soon after in an abrupt, chaotic reel.

"That's right," the girl smiled warmly before turning the same smile to Mewtwo, whose eyes narrowed slightly at the gesture. "Why the long face, Mewtwo?"

The pokémon didn't answer, whether by choice or just shock Amber didn't know. Some thing about the way the Pokémon regarding the girl was almost uncharacteristic and it caught Amber off guard for a moment, having never seen Mewtwo so…hesitant, she supposed. She only knew snippets of the bond these two shared in the past, and though a part of her longed for more information regarding the events before their true lives she remained quiet in the darkness, watching as the young girl's expression softened.

"I understand." AmberTwo nodded slightly when a few seconds had gone by in utter silence, the smile waning as she floated to close the space between her and the pokémon. "I never thought we'd be able to speak again, and it's been so long since…" she drifted off as she came to a stop directly in front of Mewtwo. She didn't need to finish, Mewtwo was well aware of the events that lead to their separation.

Suddenly it hit Amber.

"Are we…?" Amber couldn't bring herself to finish but the sheer dread in her voice made AmberTwo giggle frivolously, much to the hybrid's perplexity.

"Of course not, silly!" She assured in almost innocent tones that did little to comfort the hybrid. "You're just sleeping."

"Why are we here then?" Amber asked instead, puzzled. The last time she was here within this darkness, it had been after Giovanni's attempts in Celadon City and she had lost control in the hospital.

Amber's eyes widened at the thought. The lab…She remembered Giovanni showing her a device…something to 'suppress and control' her powers. But it had been a lie, and he had forced her to wear the device and after that everything was a blank…Had she lost control again? Was she here because of her own frailties? And what had she done to bring Mewtwo here as well?

More importantly, were Ash and the others okay?

"Because you're about to start a new adventure, Amber." The girl informed calmly as she came to take the hybrid's hands in her own comfortingly, taking Amber by surprise as she looked into her counterpart's young eyes, an unmistakable twinkle in them. "And this will be the last time we will ever see each other."

Though directed at Amber, the girl's gaze moved to Mewtwo upon the last part, her eyes suddenly distraught and the Pokémon simply stared back at her for a moment, a debate on its face as though trying to decide whether the girl's last statement was a bad one or otherwise.

"What do you mean 'adventure'?" Amber asked, after a few moments had gone by in silence. AmberTwo's gaze returned to the hybrid, a twinkle returning to those young eyes once more but no answer was given straightaway.

Finally, the girl placed two small hands on her shoulders, and gave a small smile. "You will see…" she assured the other, wrapping her small arms around the hybrid suddenly, taking her by surprise as she reflexively return the gesture to keep them both from falling over, or rather floating in the opposite direction. "Take care of Mewtwo," AmberTwo told her quietly before releasing her counterpart and floating away enough to look at the psychic Pokémon in turn. "And promise me you'll do the same to her…" Her voice was quiet, and her eyes clouded faintly as a light glowed faintly behind her.

Mewtwo nodded slightly. "_I shall." _

Amber smiled as the light flared, blindingly, silhouetting her tiny frame until only white surrounded the hybrid and Pokémon, replacing the darkness in one extent until Amber felt gravity suddenly rush down around them again, sending her back into a altered blackness as the girl's last words echoed softly around them.

_"Goodbye…friends…"_

* * *

"…ber!"

_A voice…? But who…?_

It called to her in the haze that surrounded her, the _pain_ that surrounded her. In a nostalgic realization, Amber soon found her body was on fire, or so it felt. Every part of her was either burning in pain or throbbing in painful silence, her head especially and it didn't help that she seemed to be laying on her back on what felt like, and probably was, a cluster of rocks.

"Is she…?" It, the voice, asked again, a familiar tone to it that brought memories back to the hybrid in one abrupt surge. _Ash, Pikachu, Misty Brock, Mewtwo…Giovanni_. It all hit her at once, images in rapid replay, and she groaned before she could stop herself, forcing open weary eyes to come face-to-face with the blurry faces of…her friends.

"Amber?" Ash's voice was quiet, as if he were afraid the volume alone would send her back into unconsciousness, as he leaned over the hybrid, worry etched on his face. But the thing that caught the hybrid's eye was the cuts and bruises that covered the other's bodies and dread washed over her.

Amber blinked, once, slowly, fighting back unwanted tears and failing miserably. "Ash…I'm sorry…" She croaked, as she somehow managed to prop herself up on her elbows, ignoring the scream of protest from her body as she continued to sit up.

"No, don't be. It…wasn't your fault." Ash tried to assure her, but was interrupted by the female's sudden sobs as she buried her face in her hands. Unsure what else to do, the trainer moved to embrace the hybrid, who didn't try to break away and buried her head in his chest, making the trainer tense in convention. "Everything's okay now, don't worry…" He calmed, tones worried but sympathetic.

After all, if anyone had the right to cry right now it was Amber.

For a while, Ash just held her in silence, Amber's muffled cries the only noise apart from the sparkling of wires, as his friends looked on, a mix of worry and relief on their faces. A sudden shuffle broke the silence and the trio looked to the side as Mewtwo sat up, looking no better off than anyone else, pain visibly fixed in its features.

"Mew!" The pink counterpart immediately perked up at the sight of its other half, floating full circles around Mewtwo before coming to a rest on the bigger creature's tail, laying prone on the floor.

"How are you feeling?" Misty asked the psychic pokémon, not bothering to hide the relief in her voice.

Mewtwo merely looked at her for a moment before replying, "_I am fine,_" and looking to the hybrid and Ash, concern replacing the hurt briefly. Catching the pokémon's eye, Ash gave a half-smile.

"…We did it," he said placidly, shifting slightly as Amber began to recompose herself and lifted her face from his now damp shirt.

Mewtwo nodded once, slowly as though still trying to comprehend the situation. "_Yes…It seems we are victorious…"_

"Now what…?" Amber asked softly, looking at Ash. Her amber eyes bewildered.

It abruptly occurred to Ash that the topic was wholly foreign to the female. Freedom wasn't something Amber ever had and, with that in mind, Ash didn't know how to expose the fact that with Giovanni gone that very thing was now within the hybrid's grasp. All she had do was reach out and grab it.

However, before he could suggest a next move, a chilling voice cut in.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, _children_."

Ash felt Amber tense in his grasp, as the trainers and pokémon looked up to meet with the raggedy figure of the Rocket's leader, a wicked smile on his face that unnerved the trio and was in no way dulled by the gleam in his dark eyes.

"Giovanni…" Misty narrowed her eyes, a fist clenched at her side. "Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

"Quite the contrary, I refuse to give up what is rightfully mine." He said in tones enough to freeze oxygen and his eyes shot toward the hybrid, a longing practically palpable in them. "Now Amber, dear. Return to me. We have unfinished business to attend."

"Forget it!" Misty snapped, making Amber flinch as the gym leader moved to shield her.

Brock stood up, voice hardhearted. "Haven't you learned yet?"

"You're finished, Giovanni," Ash shouted, following Brock's lead and was soon shadowed by Misty. "Give up!"

Instead Giovanni smiled wickedly, a crooked and demonic smile on his face. It shot chills down Amber's spine as she grasped the trainer's leg, far too weak to do much else. Glancing at Mewtwo, Amber could see it struggle to stand, Mew floating by its side and both with discontented expressions. Looking back to Giovanni she froze. His eyes were on her, like a predator stalking helpless prey, paying no mind to the trainer's threats or the fact his base was reduced to rubble. There was only one thing that mattered. And that was her.

The next word was out of her mouth before she realized, hushed and barely audible.

"No…"

"What was that?" Giovanni asked, tones dangerously level.

Amber had to force herself to meet his eyes with a calm voice and almost accomplished the latter. "I'm not…going with you…"

"Why you ungrateful…!" Giovanni grated, scowling at the hybrid in the first unprincipled motion she had ever seen from him. "It's thanks to me you're even here, without me you would not exist! You _belong_ to me!"

"I don't belong to _anyone_." Amber affirmed quietly, eyes fiery. "Especially not you."

Giovanni scowled, eyes burning as he glared at the hybrid, who stared back indifferently. Something flashed behind the leader's eyes, or maybe that was putting it too lightly. Staring back, Amber could almost see something _snap_ in Giovanni's mind as his face twisted into a frown as his eyes regarded her furiously. She wouldn't take it back though, ever. Ash and his friends had taught her that she was worth more than she ever thought she could be. That living as an experiment wasn't what she had to do. Not anymore. She had seen what lay beyond the walls of the labs and white rooms of the places where she was born and lived.

And she wanted to see more.

For the first time in her life, Amber felt a need pulling at her, more than her escape had and she wanted more. She…deserved it, didn't she? Ash had made her realize she was just like them, in more ways than she ever thought, and that it didn't matter if she wasn't truly human. She earned a life away from test tubes and the like. She earned it, and she wanted it. And the only thing in her way right now was the man whose indication and self-indulgence had lead to her birth.

Still, could she actually manage to break away…with him like this?

Giovanni wasn't happy, that much was obvious. He was about as willing to loose Amber as she was to stay, and in their staredown something told Amber that he wasn't going to give up until he tried every last thing up his sleeve. Which is why it didn't surprise her that a moment later, the Rocket leader pulled a small device from his frayed coat pocket. Only one thing catching the other's eyes…

A red button.

Giovanni laughed, almost madly. "I will not let myself be defeated by mere children. I maybe finished but I can at least die without any regrets knowing you're going down with me." His tones ever still deathly calm, betraying the chaos behind his eyes.

"You're insane…" Ash understood at last. Giovanni, he was willing to do anything, everything, for his goal. Even destroying his own base, everything he had created here and everyone inside it. If he couldn't have Amber, no one would. If he couldn't get what he desired, pursued, then that very thing wasn't even meant to exist…

"You will not escape." The man drawled shooting a last glare at Ash in particular before compressing the button promptly.

Abruptly, the ground below them started to quiver, sending tremors to the fractured and crumbling support columns around them, wisps of white raining down on them as chunks soon followed.

Misty was the first to realize the danger of the situation. "We have to get out of here! C'mon!" She broke for the exit, avoiding what debris she could, stumbling once.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Brock followed her promptly, a glance towards Ash telling the latter to follow.

Ash was about to follow suit, about to help the hybrid to her feet when she refused to move. Looking down at her, he gave a worried glance. "Amber what's wrong?" He asked softly, kneeling back down to eye level.

The hybrid stared back, eyes blank but Ash still saw a hesitation in them when she spoke. "I…" She drifted off, eyes clouding over with contemplation.

"_Amber." _Mewtwo's voice rose up and the two others turned to see an unusual expression in its eyes, focused on the hybrid who blinked once then glanced to the lighter counterpart, floating next to her with a curiosity plastered to its pink face.

"Mew?"

Amber was quiet, looking at the pink feline then back to Mewtwo, who regarded her silently as something flickered behind its eyes…Compassion?

Or a promise?

"C'mon," Ash said lightly and offered his hand. Amber looked at it before taking it, a small smile appearing on her face as she stood up shakily, leaning against the trainer for support as they started to move. Casting one look back to Giovanni, who hadn't moved an inch, Amber stared at him before following Ash.

Moving swiftly through the crumbling building, meeting Brock and Misty just outside the lab the group continued through the tremours and falling rubble, barely avoiding being crushed by larger sections. They made their way through the halls, now empty of opposition and Amber wondered briefly where Giovanni's followers had run to, or if they were even able to and even as they ascended collapsing stairs to the top most level. Rounding corners at breakneck and adrenaline powered paces, they entered the main corridor at last, the exit just meters away when a earth-shattering _crack_ filled the room as a quake shook the floor, sending the group to their knees. Looking up in unison as if under a spell, they could hardly blink before a massive section of ceiling came hurtling towards them, each of them bracing themselves for the sure impact and bereavement.

But nothing came.

Daring to open his eyes, that had closed instinctively, Ash looked to the roof only to find it bathed in an all-too-familiar jade and azure glow, floating inches from their heads. Turning towards the hybrid and psychic Pokémon behind them, Ash couldn't help but grin, ignoring his quickened heartbeat.

"Nice work!" Misty commended with relief heavy in her voice as she forced a relaxed smile on her face, Brock nodding in agreement by her side.

"Guess you're finally getting used to your powers." Ash said, resting a reassuring hand on the hybrid's shoulder, his eyes weary but glad.

Amber smiled sheepishly as she looked at him. "Yeah…" She said meekly.

"Let's go." He told everyone.

How they made it, none of them knew, but as soon as they stepped out of the diminishing building into the sunlight and into the gathering citizens of the island who had felt the tremors and were drawn by curiosity, a deafening roar erupted behind them. Dust and smaller pieces of wreckage blasted from the fallen structure, the crowd covering their faces from harm as the escaped trainers, pokémon and hybrid fell to the ground, exhaustion finally taking over before they turned to see the mass of rubble the structure had become in mere seconds, burying Team Rocket's ambitions and frontrunner with it.

It was over.

As Misty let out a sigh, falling back to lay on the ground, Amber could only stare. That was it, everything was gone. Giovanni, the lab, everything that had lead to her creation, her life was now submerged beneath tons of debris. She no longer had to live with the relentless anxiety of the same man she had escaped, she no longer had anything to fear…and she could hardly believe it…

She felt a hand return to her shoulder and looked up into the face of the trainer she owed her life to. The next two words he spoke sending her into a long earned harmony.

"You're free."

* * *

**_Holy poo. It's finally here and this story is one Epilogue from being finished! AT LAST! Only took like a year or something, sorry about that. School and all, you know? But for those of you who HAVE reviewed and faved and followed I thank you SO MUCH. You have no idea what it means to me, especially when this story was pretty much dead and I haven't been trying too hard with it for the last few chapters._**

**_So, don't worry, the last chapter will be up soon (PROMISE) and then it'll be FINISHED. I have no idea if I want to do another pokemon ffic or a sequel so don't count on it._**

**_Stay beautiful you guys._**


	10. Epilogue

The sun shone high and bright above Celadon City, mid-autumn breezes winding around the buildings and through the seasonal outside market amidst the city square. People bustled here and there, examining tables and booths alike, their surfaces covered in anything from tiny oddments to fresh fruits and vegetables. Children and pokémon ran about with candy smeared faces and smiles as they shouted and played with whatever they could get their hands on. They were happy, and fully unaware that among them, in their happy shouts and liveliness, was the world's only hybrid.

Amber couldn't help but smile at those around her as she walked through the market, a small basket in hand. Already, it held smaller fruits and few vegetables and as she continued on her way, she came to a stop at a lesser stand, its small decorations catching her eye.

"See anything you like, dear?" The caretaker asked her, an elderly woman dressed all in purple and a small bow in her hair to match. Her voice was soft-spoken and Amber looked from the tiny glass ornaments on the table to meet eyes with her.

There was still so much about people, and about the world she didn't get. Yet, despite her upbringing, and the life she had, Amber could see that people had a common good about them. She had feared that they would be just like Giovanni, cold and threatening, a fear that even Ash's kindness hadn't been able to completely overshadow and when he had announced that he was returning to the Johto region to revisit that fear arose tenfold. And while he had informed her she was more than welcome to join him, she had politely refused. She might be nervous but she wanted to see and experience the world for herself, starting from where she had first began to regain her hope for freedom.

Ash and his friends had done so much for her, that when they had escorted her back to this city she had promptly refused monetary help of any kind in spite of their attempts. In truth, she had done without a real shelter for so long that she doubted she ever would be comfortable in one place for very long, and with that fact, the money she earned from doing small deliveries in town, usually with the bike shop, she had enough to get by easily enough and she was more comfortable spending nights on the rooftop or a field. Not unlike her fully Pokémon counterpart, Ash had pointed out with a grin, who had departed the night before they had arrived in the city, though that didn't mean Amber didn't meet with Mewtwo from time to time. With the Pokémon being the only real teacher the hybrid had available to her now, Amber sought Mewtwo out from time to time for small lessons. While she had significantly better control over her powers than she did previously, she still found them unpredictable at times and was slowly learning to control them and better herself.

And so, she was able to blend in with the townspeople as if it were second nature almost flawlessly.

"My goodness, you have such pretty eyes." The woman said, snapping Amber out of her thoughts suddenly, then smiled at the hybrid.

Amber returned the smile somewhat awkwardly and briskly moved a stray strand of long azure hair from her face. "Thank you, and I think I'd like this one please." She said, carefully picking up a sleek, pale yellow pikachu figurine, the glass catching the sun's rays enough that it gleamed proudly.

"My, my. So polite, tell me dear, where are you from?" The woman asked courteously, without taking her own pale blue eyes off Amber.

"I…" Amber hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer this question. "I'm from Cinnabar Island."

The woman let out a small gasp, worry apparent on her face. "Oh my, I heard there was an accident there only a few months ago. I do hope neither you or your family was hurt."

Amber shook her head. "No, everyone is fine." She assured with a small smile.

"Well, that's very good to hear, but what in the world has brought you all the way out here, dear?"

"I'm sightseeing. The island is so small after all. And I've heard wonderful things about this city and all the places around it," Amber replied honestly.

"I understand," the woman nodded slowly, the smile returning once more. "You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger. So full of adventure."

"Well life is wonderful," Amber said delicately. "And I don't intend on wasting it."

This made the woman laugh cheerfully, and Amber grinned as she watched the older female wrap the figurine with skilled hands before handing it to the hybrid, insisting she take it as a gift and wishing her luck in life and all its adventures. Amber thanked her and continued on her way, rethinking on what the woman had said.

Family.

The word was new, and foreign to her. She could still recap AmberTwo's memories of her family, her father and mother, and wondered if she would ever have such a thing. _But then again, what is a family exactly? _She thought. Was it not just a group of people with a connection beyond simple blood? Was it experience that drew people into this sense or a promise? If that were the case, then hadn't Ash and his friends each made a promise to her? Had Mewtwo not made a promise to both her and Ambertwo? And she knew she would be lying if she said she didn't want to fully return each of those promises to the best of her abilities as well. After all they went through, they had formed something that would last a very long time, she knew.

Because together, they defeated the horrible past that plagued her and Mewtwo and, with the help of friends both old and new, won their freedom. Each of them had fought, each of them had prospered.

That is their bond.

That is their family.

* * *

**AND THAT IS THE END. whoo! Finished at long last~**

**For those of you who have stood by me since the start, I thank you so much! I know it was a hard road, despite what most of you say :P But we've reached the end!**

**And even if you're a new reader, thank you anyway!**

**As always review and tell me what you think/thought!**

**REMEMBER: Life is Wonderful. Don't waste it.**


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